


An Unorthodox Alliance

by SleepDeprivedFemale



Category: Soul Eater, Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-22 21:26:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 67,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4851074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepDeprivedFemale/pseuds/SleepDeprivedFemale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucifer summoned and bound the Grim Reaper to his will. Unfortunately for him, this resulted in Death's son ending up with the Winchesters, in an alliance that is shaky at best and homicidal at worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Getting Involved Whether You Like It Or Not

**Author's Note:**

> Soul Eater: Slightly AU. Follows the manga except for the final battle; basically the Kishin was sealed but Kid didn't complete his lines so dear old Lord Death is still alive :3
> 
> Supernatural: set during season 5, after 'Abandon All Hope'

****The sound of crickets echoed beneath the full red moon as an empty highway stretched past the horizon. Beneath the starry night, the population of a small quaint American town was sleeping peacefully, the only exception a barely lit room in a dingy one star motel at the edges of the city. There, three young men were up but quiet, the crickets incessant chirps making the silence between the occupants all the more prominent. The three men were in a bad shape, full of cuts, bruises and open wounds, paired with slumped, defeated postures.

"So…" Sam Winchester muttered as he applied some disinfectant to a cut in his hand that was still open. His tall and relatively thin frame may have been imposing, but sagged shoulders and uncombed brown shoulder-length hair gave him the image of a runaway teen.

"That was a complete failure," Dean finished his younger brother's statement. The elder brother wasn't in a better state either; if possible he looked even more depressed, a stocky muscular frame and face which may have been described as handsome, now looking like a man who had attended his parents' funeral.

It'd been a day after the complete and utter fiasco that was Catharge. The loss of Jo and Ellen was still fresh and painful – the memory of the mother staying with her slowly-dying daughter, sacrificing herself by causing an explosion to take out the hellhounds pursuing the Winchester brothers. Yet despite their heroic exit the so-called mission had collapsed into chaos, their actions in vain.

"Lucifer summoned Death, the horseman," said Castiel -the third occupant of the room- in his usual monotone. "This is bad." Unlike the brothers, Castiel had no visible injuries, partly because of his angel status and also because he was absent for a large portion of the mission, courtesy of Lucifer himself and a demon named Meg.

"You don't say," Dean quipped, rolling up some more bandages to re-wrap a particularly nasty cut on his forearm.

"But I just said it," the angel stated, quirking an eyebrow.

"I'm not in the mood Cas," Dean retorted and sighed. If it was any other time Dean wouldn't have snapped but considering the circumstances it was a good thing he and Sam hadn't rolled up on the Impala in a demon-hunting spree. Not that they weren't planning to.

The angel remained silent, perhaps sensing the brothers' discomfort, as the heavy uncomfortable silence returned to the room once more. Sam glanced between his brother and the angel before hissing as he applied another round of the disinfectant.

There was a knock on the door.

Which would have been fine if it wasn't four in the morning. Both brothers froze for a millisecond before Dean immediately reached for the Colt -which as they recently discovered, could _not_ kill everything- and Sam for Ruby's demon-killing knife -which, despite the means of acquiring it, had been extremely useful. Yet Castiel put up a hand, signalling the brothers to stand down, staring wide-eyed at the doorframe. This in turn caused Dean to frown in worry while Sam mouthed a "what is it?"

Dean however, went for the less subtle approach. "Castiel, what the hell-"

"Whatever is behind the door is not human," the angel said with some dread, approaching he door like the wood would explode at any moment.

The two brothers looked at each other in unison and blinked. Sam spoke up. "What is it then, ghost, angel, demon?"

"Yeah and do you know if any of these would knock before trying to decorate the room with our insides?" Dean quipped before quickly double-checking the colt was loaded.

"None." Castiel squinted as if looking though a hazy window and tilted his head. "I'm… not sure. Feels like a Reaper but more powerful." The angel took another cautious step, his gaze burning a hole in the door.

Dean gave Sam a worried look. Reapers themselves were on the neutral side of things, not aligned with Heaven or Hell. In fact the one reaper the Winchesters had met was one of the very, very few supernatural creatures they were on relatively friendly terms with, Castiel notwithstanding. But now Lucifer had summoned the Grim Reaper and brought them to the devil's side. Who was to say that the reapers wouldn't now turn against them? Coupled with the fact that reapers were normally invisible to living humans, fighting one would prove more difficult than your average demon which was a herculean task on its own.

There were seven more knocks, a total of eight, as the brothers and angel waited in silence.

A muffled voice came from the doorframe. "I know you're in there. Please open the door. I mean you no harm."

Dean slowly approached the door and muttered "perfect," in his usual 'we're-probably-screwed' sarcastic tone. His free hand clutched the doorknob, before giving it a determined twist, throwing the door open and pointing the gun at eye level.

Then he noticed the creature was shorter than him, the top of its head at the same level as the human's shoulder, and quickly brought the gun down, right between the creature's eyes.

To Dean's disgust the creature looked like a child, a teenager to be more precise. Not that he couldn't deal, the Winchesters had faced dead ghost kids and Lilith who possessed a young girl, and Lucifer probably had no moral qualms about children.

In order to quell his unease the elder Winchester focused on the boy's –was he thinking of him as a boy now?- more inhumane characteristics. For example, his skin was unnaturally white and taut. He wore a strange version of a black business suit with a cartoony grey skull as a tie. Actually it seemed as if the boy belonged in an old black and white movie, the exception being his eyes which were an inhumane, double-ringed golden colour. The same golden orbs were now observing Dean's gun with disinterest.

"Good evening to you as well," the tone in which the greeting was said was unnervingly calm for someone held at gunpoint. "Is the gun necessary?" the creature asked in a bored tone which was deeper than what any fifteen year-old’s voice should be, increasing the hunter's unease.

"Yes. Who are you, what are you and what do you want? You got five seconds." Dean made a point of loudly releasing the safety for added dramatic effect.

Which the creature completely ignored, judging by his unchanged passive expression. "Death the Kid, Grim Reaper, your help."

Dean did a double-take. "What?"

"May I come in?" the boy said looking behind the brother. "I believe pointing guns at others is not a socially accepted behaviour and we may be eavesdropped if we talk in the hallway."

The older Winchester gave Sam a fleeting glance. The younger brother returned the conflicted look before shrugging his shoulders, coming closer to the supposed reaper until he was about the same distance away as Dean.

"Any sudden moves and you're dead." Dean grumpily moved to the side to let the creature in, his gun still pointed towards the creature's head, which the boy still ignored. Instead the creature looked at the room, then to Sam until his gaze finally stopped on Castiel.

"You're an angel."

"Yes."

Both fell silent and stared at each other. Sam and Dean, still in battle positions exchanged weary glances.

"Okay, you gonna explain yourself kid?" Dean said distancing the two supernatural beings from their stare-off contests.

"Right yes, I should…" the boy trailed off, briefly fiddling with one of his skull-like rings on his middle finger. The elder Winchester noticed how kid looked worse for the wear. Some parts of his suit were worn out, leaves and dirt sticking out.

"Starting this century," Sam muttered.

"Right," the boy said distractedly before focusing on the two brothers. "I'm a Grim Reaper-"

"A reaper?" Castiel said puzzled.

"No, not a simple reaper. A _Grim_ Reaper."

Dean brought his hand on the trigger while Sam grasp on the mystical knife tightened. "As in Death, the Grim Reaper."

To their surprise the boy shifted his gaze to the floor. "No, that's my father you're referring to." Sam and Dean exchanged wide-eyed looks. "I believe you know this already but, apparently the apocalypse has started. Yesterday Lucifer performed an ..." the kid shifted nervously, "abhorrent ritual in order to use and control my father's power. He has him bound and…" the reaper's voice trailed off as he made a point to look anywhere but the humans and angels, instead fiddling with his rings once more. "Disgusting," he muttered distractedly. Finally something seemed to click and the Kid let out a small cough and straightened his back. "Point is I want to set my father free from Lucifer's spell. From what I know I can either wait until the deed is completed and the 'world' will end, an unfavourable scenario, or find a way to defeat Lucifer. Which is why I came here."

"And we're supposed to believe that?" Sam remarked in patronizing matter which caused the kid to glare at the younger Winchester.

"Sam, wait." Cas stood up and walked straight into the boy's personal space, with his usual intense stare. The supposed Grim Reaper stood his ground returning the gaze. Finally Castiel extended his hand towards Kid but the Reaper took a step backwards, eyeing the hand with distrust.

"You scared of angels?" Sam teased the boy.

"I'm wary."

"I simply wish to see whether or not you're a Grim Reaper," Castiel assured him.

"Then use your soul perception," the boy all but hissed, shoulders slumped and warily looking at the heavenly being.

Dean frowned at Sam in confusion.

"Angels can only use it through physical contact."

Sam shrugged.

The child gave him a long hard look. "You're not lying," he said after a few seconds and slowly extended his arm. "Go ahead."

Castiel lightly touched the other non-human's hand. A small light emitted from the angel's palm whereas the boy's arm was surrounded by a black mist.

Dean panicked, thinking the black mist was a demon and raised his gun while Sam readied himself to lunge and stab the kid. However the mist turned into black skull-like shadows and the kid's yellow eyes grew brighter until, for a moment, the stranger stopped resembling a child.

Castiel withdrew his hand. The shadows disappeared into the boy's frame who now looked mildly annoyed.

"You're telling the truth," the angel muttered and turned to Dean. "He's a Grim Reaper."

"So glad we got this over," the reaper said in a deadpan tone. "By the way aren't the rest of the angels supposed to be fighting Lucifer?"

Dean let out a sarcastic huff, as he sat back on the couch. "Someone needs an update."

The Grim Reaper turned to face the older Winchester. "What do you mean?"

"The other angels…" Sam said as he lowered his knife and rubbed his brow. "They were the ones that caused the Apocalypse in the first place."

The boy clenched his fists. "You're joking."

"Sadly no," Castiel muttered. "It's the reason I decided to … leave heaven."

"So you're a rogue angel?"

Castiel nodded.

"Ok, let me sum this up," Dean piped up, standing up from the couch. "Basically, Death has a kid, which is you, Death Jr or whatever," the elder Winchester pointed at the reaper. "Lucifer summoned your dear old dad and has him bound so you're trying to help us beat the Devil in order to get your pa free."

"Pretty much. And it's Death the Kid, though I'm most commonly referred to as Kid, for simplicity's sake," the boy said crossing his hands.

"Why go to us?" Sam asked, his hand never leaving the knife.

"When Lucifer summoned my father, he summoned me too, being a Grim reaper myself. You antagonized him so I assume you're not best of friends."

"Sure thing, but we were there, and we didn't see you, now why is that?"

"My father's frame is… towering. He covered me from the fallen angel's line of sight and then I ran to the woods and hid."

Sam an quickly glanced at his brother in disbelief.

"…Well the guy's shadow was… towering," Dean admitted, tilting his head in agreement. The elder Winchester then looked to the boy, giving him a disapproving look. "You said ran and hid?"

"What did you want me to do, reveal myself?" Kid shot back in defence. "If I did then I'd get caught, I wouldn't be able to help father and Lucifer would have two Grim Reapers in his disposal."

"Sure thing." Dean said patronizingly. "And of all creatures, a Grim Reaper wants to stop the end of the world."

The kid's eyes hardened. "My father worked hard to maintain the balance of this world and I refuse to simply let it fall apart!" he said his voice rising until he was full on shouting. Upon which he threw a quick glance as Dean's gun still pointed at his with the finger on the trigger. The boy took a full breath and his whole frame relaxed slightly. "I'm sorry, that was rude. It's been a long day."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between the four individuals in the room. Kid looked at the two brothers expectantly, meeting Sam's mistrusting frown with a blank look and occasionally glancing at Dean, who was content with looking out the window. Castiel on the other hand remained silent, head slightly tilted and staring at the Grim Reaper.

Dean broke the silence. "…We need to call Bobby again."

"Who is he? Is he an ally?"

"None of your business," Sam quickly said. In reality Bobby was a father figure to the Winchesters, no matter how they refused to admit it, and they weren't going to release their secrets on the first supernatural creature they found.

"That's a bit rude, though I can see where you're coming from," Kid said and took a seat on an empty armchair.

"But first Dean and I are gonna talk."

"Now?"

"Yes."

Dean threw up his arms in defeat. "Castiel, keep an eye on little Helter Skelter."

The young Grim Reaper quirked an eyebrow at the elder brother's weird naming antics but remained seated while the Winchesters left the room.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

"Dean-"

"I don't thrust that thing," the elder Winchester blurted. "I mean, here we are, with Death on Lucifer's field, and suddenly 'Death's kid' shows up and wants to help us? Please."

"I'm with you on this one," Sam agreed. "It could easily be a trap. Give us up for his… dad, or something."

The older brother kept glancing towards the door to the room.

"Something wrong?" Sam asked, having noticed his brother's discomfort.

"I'm worried about Castiel. You think he will be fine with…?"

"Cas is an angel, he's gonna be fine." Sam threw another quick glance at the door. So far nothing had exploded and there wasn't any freak lightshow which, if anything, was a positive sign but did little to soothe the Winchester's nerves. "So, any ideas on what may kill a kid reaper?"

"Wait, so we're planning on killing him?"

"Well yeah," Sam said as a matter-of-fact. "What Dean?"

"I'm not hesitating. It's just that we don't know what we're dealing with here Sam."

"So we do nothing?"

"The kid hasn't attacked us."

"Yet."

Dean shrugged. "All I'm saying is that we should wait for now. Talk to Cas first, be cautious as hell but I don't think we should kill the kid yet."

Sam sighed. "I suppose. Let's head back and call Bobby," he conceded and the two brothers headed back into their room.

To see Bobby in the room. Dean gave the trio of angel, reaper and human a loopy smile. "Bobby," he said with a tight-lipped smile belonging to a slasher movie, "how did you get here?"

The man gave a surprised look at the Winchesters before pointing at Castiel in an exasperated gesture. "Angel boy over there zapped me!"

"I thought it was necessary considering our situation."

The elder let out a frustrated sigh and wheeled around to face the others. "Whatever, what's today’s crisis? And who's the kid?"

"Death Junior," said Dean, earning him another glare from Kid while Bobby froze on his seat.

"…What."

"Evening Mr Singer." The boy politely said. Bobby gave a confused side-glance to the brothers. "My name is Death the Kid. I'm a Grim Reaper. My father is Death."

Bobby remained silent, looking back and forth between the brothers, kid and angel. " _What_?"

"Pretty much what Wednesday Adams over there said," Dean explained ignoring Kid's scowl with proficiency that only years of practice could provide.

"So," Bobby spoke up. "Your daddy is Death and you're little death… You're both Grim Reapers…"

The boy's frown deepened at the little death comment but he let it pass. "Yes you're correct."

"Wasn't the ritual in order to unleash Death only?"

Kid tilted his head in confusion. "Unleash? Father and I were not restrained anywhere."

"You mean you've... been on Earth this whole time?" Sam uttered.

"Um, yes?" Kid replied in confusion. "Where else would we be?"

"Isn't your dad the angel of death?"

Kid scrunched his face. "Ridiculous. Neither my father and I are angels. We're Grim Reapers."

"So you weren't chained in a box 600 feet under?"

Any form of composure the boy had left crumbled as he let out a frustrated, "What-No! Where did you get this information?!"

The older man shrugged. "…The Bible."

"Oh for crying out loud-!"

"So what are you and daddy doing usually?" Sam asked.

"Please be more respectful towards my father," the boy said as he sat down on the nearest armchair.

"Sure thing, answer the question-"

The boy paused, giving the two humans a calculating look. "If it matters to you so much, we've set up residence in a small town."

"Which one?" Dean quickly asked.

"I'm not stupid Winchester. I'm not telling you-"

"Now why is that?" Sam piped in.

"If I'm correct you're hunters. So, even though you help people by taking out certain individuals that step out of line, you also harbour a rather unreasonable hatred for all supernatural beings, which includes me. Therefore I'm not telling you any more than what you need to know,"

Dean gave Kid a sardonic smirk. "You're scared?"

"I'm cautious. If I tell you and you come after me or father, some people may get hurt. I don't want that." Kid sat up. "I'm going to get some fresh air. Dealing with you is infuriating."

"You're one to talk," Sam muttered as the reaper exited the room.

The moment the door shut, the younger Winchester turned to the rest of the group. "Why would Death have a son anyways?"

Bobby did a double take. "How did he have a son?" he wondered to himself.

"Beats me," Dean shrugged and turned towards the angel. "Got anything Cas?"

The angel of Thursday looked deep in thought, completely ignoring the three humans.

Sam scrunched his eyebrows. "Do you think he could ice the devil?"

"Death certainly can," Cas interrupted causing the rest of the humans to look at him, "but I'm not so sure about the child."

"I don't think we should trust him," said Sam.

"Can't say he inspires loyalty," Dean agreed with his brother. He threw a quick look at Bobby, who was at the floor intensely deep in thought.

Castiel however seemed to have a different opinion. "It… may not be such a bad idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Death and his reapers mostly remain neutral in all matters except souls."

"Exactly. It's too suspicious," Dean threw in his two cents. "Like Sammy said, what if he sells us out?"

"I'm not that stupid."

Dean and Sam whirled around, guns ready, Castiel remained passive, while Bobby clutched his books a bit harder.

At the doorframe stood the Grim Reaper, giving the humans and angel a blank stare.

"How long have you been listening?" Booby asked slowly.

"Long enough. You have loud conversations."

"So then," Dean gave the teenager a sardonic smirk, "since you're all caught up, how about addressing the elephant in the room?"

"This room doesn't have any elephants," muttered a confused Castiel in the background.

"If you mean my intentions and reasons, I've already told you. I wish to rescue my father and maintain the balance. There's nothing to add."

"Fine then. And we're not taking you in."

"Then I'll follow you."

"Stalker."

"I don't have much of a choice! You people seem to be the only ones that know anything about this damned mess! I can't turn to father, certainly not to the DWMA, and the angels are part of the 'let's destroy Earth' group!" sang Kid sarcastically. "I realize you're not thrilled with the prospect of a Grim Reaper joining you, neither am I, but frankly I don't see any other way of helping dad and preventing this world's destruction!"

"Which would be nice and all to believe," Sam remarked, "but there are some holes in your story buddy."

"Yeah," Dean cocked his head to the side, "how did you find about us in the first place?"

"Excuse me?"

"Castiel over there," Sam cocked his head towards the angel, "zapped us away right before you and your 'dad' were summoned. Which means you saw us for about a split-second. Yet you managed to see us, identify us and track us?" Sam let out a disbelieving laugh. "Grim Reaper or not, you must have had outside help."

Kid's figure tensed. "There are certain ways to find information."

Dean leaned forwards. "Really now? What ways? Do they include an angel-turned-demon called Lucifer?"

"No!" Kid immediately replied before breaking eye contact. "…I made a promise to not reveal their identities."

"Whose identities?" Dean continued with his line of questioning.

"The ones who told me about the Winchester brothers, namely you."

"Such a crying shame for them. I want to know who it was. Now."

Kid looked visible uncomfortable. "That may not be the best of ideas."

Dean cocked his gun. "Don't care. Names. Now."

Kid shot Dean a quick look. "Fine," he said with clenched teeth. "They were a mother and daughter." The three humans paled. "I believe their names were Ellen and Joanna Harvelle-"

Dean picked up the child by the collar and slammed him to the wall, gun shoved at the creatures temple. " _Pick your next words very carefully._ "

"Let me go!" Kid trashed in the hunter's grasp. "This is the exact reason why I didn't tell you who they were!"

"Jo and Helen are dead!"

"I know that!"

"Then how did they talk to you?!"

"Grim Reaper! Fucking think!" Kid hissed. "Now put me down before I break your arm."

"Dean…"

The elder Winchester threw a seething glare at the Grim Reaper who countered with a scowl. Eventually, the hunter let Kid out of his gasp, the boy landing gracefully despite the chokehold he was in a few seconds ago.

"Did…" Bobby spoke up, causing everyone in the room to look at him. "Helen and Joe-Did they tell you anything else?"

"The mother told me the Winchesters were the ones to talk to if I wanted to take down Lucifer whereas the daughter helpfully informed me of their violent tendencies," Kid asserted calmly, fixing the hem of his sleeves.

"Yeah but did they tell you anything to…" Sam gulped, "tell to us?"

Kid stared at the man and his pose mellowed out. "Were they your friends?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it again and looked away.

"Doesn't matter." Glancing at his sofa, he saw Kid giving him a weird look. "What?"

The kid practically jumped "Oh, uh nothing."

"They were like family," Sam said, ignoring Dean's surprised look. "Which is why you're done for if you're lying about them, Grim Reaper or not."

Kid's eyes softened and he avoided eye contact. "Oh I see. I… apologize for intruding." He paused for a few seconds."…They did tell me that if they saw you anytime soon you'd all be in a world of pain."

Dean snorted. "Of course they said that."

Another silence fell between them.

Sam noticed a dark red patch on Kid's shirt, up at the right shoulder. "You're hurt?"

"Oh, I'd forgotten about that. It seems to have reopened again from all the sudden movement." The boy frowned. "And now my clothes are in a worst shape if possible."

"Well shit. Sit down Kid. You don't want to pass out among a batch of hunters, do ya?"

Kid snorted. "I'd like to think your reasoning skills are developed enough to recognize I'm not a threat but actually trying to help you."

"We'll see about that." Sam muttered from the side-lines.

"But yeah, I think it's best if I sit..." Kid murmured and sat on the bed. Meanwhile the dark patch of red expanded across the dark fabric, some blood making its way through the fibre and dripping down on the boy's lap.

"You may want to get that looked. It looks like you're losing a lot of blood."

"If you're going to play nurse, then I'm not needed here. Cal me if you need me." Bobby gave a pointed look to the Winchesters before turning to Castiel. "Think you can zap me back?"

"Yes," the angel said. "I'm… sorry for the lack of warning."

Bobby accepted the apology with a nonchalant shake of his head. The angel touched the human's shoulder and they disappeared.

Kid in the meantime had taken off his jacket, revealing a less torn but blood-soaked shirt that may have been white in its prime time. The upper parts of the connecting point between the sleeve and torso were, strangely, both torn through, the sleeves hanging loosely at the boy's thin frame and revealing the wound on his right shoulder.

Dean flinched at seeing the wound. Rivets of blood ran down the mangled flesh; like someone tried to claw the boy's arm off.

"How did you get that?"

"Overzealous demons. They thought it was a good idea to pick a fight with a Grim Reaper," Kid huffed.

"I don't think we have enough disinfectant."

The boy shook his head. "I'm fine. The wound will heal in a few hours, they always have," he said, lifting his arm for a closer inspection. "That being said, I bleed a lot, so bandages would be great to avoid making a mess."

The Winchesters looked at each other hesitantly. Finally Sam spoke up, "I'll go get the bandages," he said as he headed towards the bathroom.

"Thank you."

"Just so we're clear," Dean said gun still pointed at the reaper, "we may have teamed up for now but that doesn't make us friends. You try to pull something and you'll regret it."

Sam returned to the room with a small batch of bandages.

"Duly noted."


	2. Let Me Help Dammit

The two hunters and Grim Reaper were driving along a country road on the elder brother’s trusted Impala. Dean was at the wheel with Sam as the co-pilot and Kid was delegated to the backseat. Most of their ride was silent with the older Winchester attempting to put some old-school rock music, followed by his brother immediately lowering it while Kid passively observed the scenery passing by.

“Hey, Samarra?”

Kid blinked and raised an eyebrow at Dean. “Yes?”

“We need to find something to call you in public. ‘Little Death’ doesn’t do the trick.”

“Like I told you before, call me Kid,” the teen replied. “It’s…” his voice trailed off, “a nickname, of shorts.” The boy crossed his arms. “And it is definitely preferred over any contemporary horror reference you come up with.”

“Sure,” Dean muttered, still getting used to the idea of the Grim Reaper having a son with whom they had formed a shaky alliance with. Add to the fact they weren’t quite sure how to kill him if it turned out the boy weren`t the friendly-neighbor-Grim-Reaper he claimed to be, Dean thought carrying the Colt on him while Sam had the demon-hunting knife at all times the best precaution the brothers could take so far.

“We’re here,” Sam said as an old white house came into view. The building was usual for the area, as houses of a similar architecture lined the road, marking the beginning of a quaint river village in Massachusetts.

The car came into a stop next to the residence, with Dean shutting the engine and getting off the vehicle along with Sam. Kid made the motion of opening the car´s door before the elder Winchester slammed it shut.

“You stay in,” Dean said to Kid. “This is our business.”

“I can help you-“

“No,” Dean cut him off. “Our business, our rules. Stay in.”

The Grim Reaper let out a haughty cough before plopping back at his seat. “Fine.”

As the Winchesters got out of the car, loudly closing the doors, and walking towards the house, Kid let out a frustrated sigh.

The brothers were completely unreasonable. A bit of mistrust is perfectly logical when dealing with strangers, but these two thought Kid would attack them at any moment. The first part of the journey felt like an interrogation; the elder brother, Dean, kept giving him patronizing ‘I-bet-you’re-lying-through-your-teeth’ looks, letting sarcastic remarks at the young Reaper’s answers, whereas Sam, to the boy’s immense relief, only glared at him occasionally.

If they kept this up, Kid would attack them out of frustration.

Not that it would help his situation at all. Unfortunately, it seemed these two humans -and angel- were the only ones directly trying to stop the Apocalypse. Speaking of which, Kid’s thoughts returned to his father. The boy’s frowned deepened; at this point he knew little about the situation, so he could at best only give a rough estimate at what had happened to the Grim Reaper.

Death was definitely sealed, and from what little Kid felt during the summoning, and few information mentally exchanged between the two Reapers (which went less like telepathy and more along the lines of ‘hey, here’s a concept’), the binding was absolute, strong enough to null his father’s own binding to Death City. It was tragic in a way; the one time his dad was finally free from his self-inflicted prison –not that Death had ever referred to his situation in such a negative light- and allowed to roam the world, he was bound to the Devil’s wishes.

And the worst thing was that Kid couldn’t do much. At first, his only option was to flee; had he stayed, the young Reaper would have also been captured and, bravado be damned, Kid was a pragmatist at heart when it came to such situations. Lucifer was much, much stronger compared to the young Grim Reaper, especially when said Reaper was ready to put on pajamas and go to sleep, which was when the summoning happened.

No, what Kid had to do was find allies; people that not only wanted to fight the Devil, but also had the means to do so. Asura’s defeat was a group effort, so effective that Kid hadn’t completed his lines of Sanzu, which most thought would be instrumental for a victory. For Lucifer, however, the situation was different. The DWMA did not deal with demons or other supernatural creatures as a rule, unless one of them ate souls. This, of course, meant that most people there did not know how to fight demons and the like, which in itself ruled them out as potential allies.

However, even if the DWMA´s technicians were to fight, Kid would be hesitant because this was the actual Devil they were dealing with. Fighting against him would be suicidal to a human, even if they were in Weapon form. And, of course, this didn’t even count the danger that the Winchesters could pose if they labeled the weapons as non-human and followed an aggressive course of action.

Of course, Black Star would loudly protest if he heard that line of thought, with Liz ranting that she would come with Kid ‘whether you like or not, brat’, but they weren’t here. They did not know the situation, and the last thing Kid wanted was to involve them in this cosmic mess.

The boy shook his head. There was no need dwelling at the past, especially when it didn’t provide new insights. For now he’d have to play along with the brothers, hopefully maintaining the alliance long enough for the Winchesters to get in their heads that Kid was here to help, not ‘whisk them in the middle of the night’ or whatever other melodramatic quips Dean threw at the Grim Reaper.

Almost half an hour after the Winchesters had gone into the house, the brothers walked out and headed to the Impala, with Sam giving its residents one final wave.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

They were at a random Burger restaurant, or ‘Dinner’ as they called them. Sam and Dean were sitting opposite of each other with Kid in between. Dean had just brought their orders, the older brother’s food being an unhealthy burger and fries, opposite to Sam’s, which was a salad in a cup. Kid had ordered a simple ice tea; unsurprisingly the Grim Reaper’s appetite hadn’t been great since his father was kidnapped.

The two brothers started talking about their beloved babysitter and childhood´s memories, so Kid opted out of the conversation. Then Dean mentioned about normal life and Sam’s face fell.

Oh dear, there was more melodrama. Kid could practically hear the sad piano playing in the background.

“The house is haunted,” the boy spoke up, interrupting the brothers’ conversation. Of all people he’d met -and there were several-, so far only these two managed to turn eating lunch into a scene right out of a drama TV show.

Dean rolled his eyes at the boy. “Congratulations, you heard our conversation.”

“No, I did not. When I was in the car I used my Soul Perception to inspect the house-”

Sam paused midway through eating his salad. “Your soul what?”

“Soul Perception.” Seeing Dean’s blank stare and Sam’s furrowing of eyebrows, Kid thought an explanation was necessary. “Think of it as a sixth sense which allows one to see souls. In certain cases, the souls of the deceased who linger in this realm can be seen as well.”

“What did you see?” Dean abruptly asked.

“Not much.” The boy shrugged. “I did not have a clear view, because as you may remember, I was not allowed into the house.”

“Sure thing, what did you see?” Dean spelled out the question, brushing of the pointed remark.

Kid’s frustration levels started to rise. “Learn to listen, Dean. I said I did not see much. I could sense yours and the other family’s souls; they are three members, correct?”

Sam nodded.

“Well, there was another presence in the basement. It felt like the soul of a human, but not quite.”

“So we are dealing with a ghost.” Dean said with relief. It was good to know there was only a spirit, no many like that case on their childhood house.

“Most definitely.”

“But did you sense the body?” the younger Winchester wanted to know.

Kid quirked his eyebrow at Sam. “The body?”

“To burn it, exorcise the ghost and stuff,” Dean said as he focused on eating the last piece of his meal.

Kid grimaced. “Or, I could just go there myself and put the soul to rest without resorting to arson.”

Dean paused midway through his burger, “You can do that?”

To which the Grim Reaper replied with a deadpan expression.

“If we don’t find a body, we’ll give you a shot.” Then Dean tuned to his brother, as if Kid didn’t exist anymore. “Sam, got anything?”

Sam, ignoring Kid once again, talked to Dean about not finding anything about their witch. Dean let out a snarky remark, also Ignoring Kid’s persisting glare. The Grim Reaper took a deep breath and rubbed his brow. He would attack them later, after he rescued his father.

“A ‘thank you’ would be nice.” Kid said through slightly gritted teeth. “Even better, how about you include me in this part of the conversation?”

“Sorry, Kid,” Dean said in a tone implying the exact opposite. “But ghosts, this is our turf.”

“You seem to forget I’m a Grim Reaper.”

“Which is exactly why we’re not taking you with us.”

“I-…! This doesn’t even make sense! I can help!”

Sam looked around him alarmed, as a few customers turned at Kid’s outburst. The younger brother seemed to be fighting and losing a mental battle, until he finally took out his laptop and turned it on.

“Fine. Here’s what I found out so far. Supposedly, in the 1720s, the house was owned by a guy named Isaiah Pickett.” Sam turned his laptop to show them a site titled ‘Witchcraft’. “Legend says he hung a woman in his backyard for witchcraft, Maggie Briggs.”

“So, we’re dealing with an angry ghost witch?”

“The soul wasn’t a witch.”

Sam frowned at the Reaper’s comment. “You can tell them apart?”

“Depends. There are differences between humans who can learn to use magic, and witches who are born with their own type of magic.”

Sam frowned in confusion. “There are?”

“Natural born witches are much more powerful, which translates to how their soul looks.” Kid intertwined his hands and frowned. “I’m not sure about modern standards, but in the 18th century it was very rare for a normal human to summon a demon, the ingredients were too exotic; thus she must have been restricted to using very basic magic.”

“That still doesn't explain what ‘Murdered Chylde’ means.”

The Reaper threw Dean a deadpan stare. “Really?”

The elder Winchester gave the boy an incredulous look. “…What?”

“Let’s start with the obvious. Chylde means child, and by ‘Murdered Chylde’ she must mean someone killed her kid, or another young human she was fond off. Taking into account she was human, thus any type of magic she did practice was weak at best, and that it was the 1720’s, it’s not unreasonable to assume she was murdered according to the story.”

“The witch hunts,” Sam muttered.

Kid tilted his head in thought. “Probably. The mystery is whether Mrs Briggs leaned magic to take revenge of the one who killed her child, or if it was the suspicion of witchcraft that got her and her child murdered.”

“And where she’s buried.” Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, so maybe the guy did gunk an innocent woman. Sad story and all, but we’re here to get rid of ghosts, not hear their woes.”

Kid gave Dean a disapproving look. “A little empathy can get you a long way-”

“Or more likely, a quick way to the morgue,” the elder brother retorted. “Listen up Kid. Don’t know how you and daddy ran things, but you’re on our team now. And we _hunt_ , not have therapy groups for whatever homicidal monster decides to go on a rampage. Capiche?”

“And how has that worked out for you so far?” Kid stood up and placed both hands on the table. “From one’s perspective, what you’ve accomplished so far is present yourselves as a trigger-happy cruel duo, ready to kill anything that’s not your species.”

Dean also stood up, his hand going dangerously close to where his hidden gun was. “You wanna test that rumour?”

“I should visit the library.” Sam spoke up, distracting the two from a potential Deathmatch. “I can see if I can find something in the town records.”

“I’m heading for the motel,” Dean grumbled as he ate the last piece of his burger and headed for the Impala.

Kid rubbed his brow and sat down, seemingly calm again. “The library should be the best place to find these documents.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Unfortunately, even after spending half of their day at the local Library, Sam and Kid’s search yielded no results.

“Did you find anything?” Kid asked, supporting his head on one hand while the other mindlessly shifted through pages, a small pile of old books placed in no particular order around him.

“No,” Sam yawned as he closed another heavy book, containing records of the city’s residents. Several similar archives surrounded the little desk space he’d claimed, all piled up neatly and organized. “You?”

“Nothing.”

“Well,” the younger Winchester stretched his back, “I don’t think we’re gonna find anything. I’m heading back.”

“I’ll stay. I’ll look at the records again in case we missed something.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I don’t really need to sleep,” the Grim Reaper explained. “Go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

“Ok.” Sam stood around purposelessly before addressing Kid once more in a hesitant tone. “So uh… would you like me to… bring you anything?”

“No, thank you. You should get some rest, you look tired.”

“Alright.” Sam made his way to the exit, but stopped. “Uh… Dean and I can pick you up tomorrow… Goodnight.”

“Goodnight as well.”

And as Sam got out of sight, Kid let out a long-suffering sigh, simultaneously giving a dirty look at the multitude of books around him. Truth be told, he wasn’t a great fan of research, especially when it involved obscure records of someone who would prove to be not much of a threat at all. His apparent drive to do more reading about the unfortunate fate of the dead woman was a simple lie.

In reality, Kid wanted some time alone. The Winchesters were insufferable. If the car ride was frustrating, this case was pure adrenaline. Dean especially was much more difficult than Sam, but it could be the case that Sam was much better at not antagonizing those he disliked. Kid held no illusions; the brothers were devoted hunters of the supernatural, specializing in creatures of darkness and you couldn’t get much ‘darker’ than the Grim Reaper. Their alliance was shaky at best, and homicidal at worst.

The boy shook his head. This was ridiculous. This case offered no strategic advantage over the Devil, but here he was, stuck with them. Kid could go rogue, but with no connections the young Grim Reaper might as well paint a symmetrical target on his head.

Kid closed his eyes in frustration and slipped further down his chair.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

A street away, Sam was talking to Dean on his phone.

“Did you find anything?” came the elder’s voice through the device.

“Bupkes. Kid is double-checking the records again in case we missed something.”

“This late?”

“Apparently Grim Reapers don’t require much sleep.”

“Well, that’s not creepy at all. Anyways, see you at the motel.”

And Sam would have returned, had it not been for a carefully aimed blowdart.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid woke up from his light sleep a few hours later, seeing the first rays of sunlight. A clock nearby revealed the time was 7 in the morning. Despite Sam’s claims, no one had showed up, which was strange.

The Reaper wondered if the Winchesters were close by, perhaps on their way to him. Kid activated his Soul Perception; the boy’s color vision dimmed while countless orbs appeared at varying distances across the city. The Grim Reaper searched for the brothers’ souls. From what he’d able to observe, Dean and Sam’s souls outwardly looked like any ordinary human soul. Yet if one was to take a closer look, they’d find a burning passion to protect their loved ones, maybe a bit too strong and somewhat blinding, as their actions towards Kid so far had indicated.

There was Dean, Kid noticing the soul several blocks away, close to where the motel which they were currently staying in. Strangely enough, Sam wasn’t with him. Upon closer inspection, Sam’s soul was a few feet away on the complete opposite of where the motel was and didn’t show any sign of moving closer to Kid. The Reaper shifted his attention back to Dean, as there was another soul close to the hunter. The unknown soul’s light blue hue and relatively small size indicated it was one of a teenager.

Kid frowned in confusion. This didn’t make sense. Then he felt a wave of distress coming from Sam’s soul. The Grim Reaper forced his eyes open, leaped out of his chair and ran at Sam’s location.

Something was wrong.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was a few blocks away, in a neighborhood of white picket houses and carefully trimmed lawns that Kid found himself close to Sam’s soul.

However, Sam’s strange location proved to be the least of Kid’s problems.

“Sam?!”

A black haired gangly teenager, turned around in surprise, which only intensified when he saw the young Reaper. “Kid?! You recognize me? Oh, thank God-!”

“What happened?! I sensed you were in distress and I came to meet you, but…” Kid did a once over of Sam’s form. “That’s not your body!”

‘Sam’ threw his arms in the air in exasperation. “You think I haven’t noticed?!”

“What happened?!” Kid gestured to not-Sam’s body.

“I don’t know!” the younger Winchester exclaimed as he ran a hand through his now short hair. “Wait, you said you sensed me in distress?!”

“Soul Perception.” The Grim Reaper crossed his arms at the brother’s raised eyebrow. “Don’t act as if you’re not glad I’m here.”

Sam shook his head. “Whatever. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Uh…” Kid gave the ‘teen’ a wide-eyed look. “It… could be a transfer of souls, probably is one-”

“Witchcraft?”

The boy shrugged his shoulders. “Probably.”

“Damn it, Gary,” Sam muttered. “So any ideas?”

“I… uh,” Kid rubbed his forehead, trying to calm himself down. “You should lay low. The person who did this has your body and he’s probably dangerous, probably the soul I sensed near Dean. Have you contacted your brother?”

“I tried, but he’s not answering.”

“Did anything happen last night, anything unusual at all?”

“I…” Sam scrunched his eyebrows, “think I was drugged with a blowdart…?”

“Knock you unconscious, it could make the process easier…”Kid mumbled and shook his head. “This was preplanned.”

“Is there any way to… fix this?”

The Grim Reaper looked away deep in thought. “If it’s a spell, it probably has a counter-spell… if we could find the spell itself-“

“Then we can find a way to reverse the process,” Sam concluded.

“If not, that’s were things get complicated.”

“Can you do anything?”

Kid looked away uncomfortably. “…I could try reversing the process myself, but…”

The younger Winchester crossed his arms. “Would that end up in one of us dying?”

The Reaper shrugged apologetically. “…A potential side effect.”

Sam rubbed his temples. “Ok, so we should first find out what happened with my body.”

Kid nodded.

“Kid, I need you to go and find Dean.”

“But what about-?”

“See if you can find who got my body. Try to act natural, find a way to tell Dean in secret about this and then get the witch so we can fix this.” Sam ran a hand through his now-short black hair. “I know Gary, the original owner of the body, practiced witchcraft. I’ll try to find his book, see if we can locate the spell used.”

“What if something happens? He may have accomplices.”

Sam huffed in indignation. “He’s a teenager and a nerd; the only accomplishes he has are acne and sexual frustration.”

Nevertheless, Kid gave the brother a worried look. “Whatever the case, be careful. I may not know you two for long, but I’m certain Dean will have my head if something happens to you. Literally.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was about twenty minutes later that Kid ran –he seemed to be doing a lot of that recently- back to the motel. The young Reaper stopped outside the entrance to Dean’s room, quickly adjusting the hem of his shirt –one the brothers had half-heartedly acquired so Kid wouldn’t look like a horror movie victim- while simultaneously checking the room with his Soul Perception to insure Dean and Sam’s body-snatcher were still there. He quickly ran a hand down his hair as well to fix stray strands into place, and upon making sure he was symmetrical –Sanzu lines be damned- Kid politely knocked on the door.

“Who-?” To be greeted by Sam’s body which was housing a different soul, the disconnect causing a small wave of vertigo to the young Reaper. Kid had to employ all his mental strength to not flinch at the sight.

“Kid, where’ve you been, man?!” Thankfully, Dean showed up from the side and the boy tried his best to keep his face neutral.

“I… uh… got caught up at the Library.”

“Did you now?”

“Yes, I did.” Seeing Dean’s persistent scowl, Kid folded his arms. “Are you implying something?”

“No, no, of course not. It’s just that Sam, over there,” he gestured to the imposter, “already found out where the witch was buried. Why were you at the Library again?”

“I did not know Sam acquired such data.” Kid turned to Sam’s body. “I must say that is impressive. Where did you come across such information?”

“Uh…” the imposter hesitated. “Research. You know, at the Library.”

The young supernatural looked away. “I was with you at the Library.”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? Yeah, sorry, man…”

Kid’s eyes would roll out of his skull, if they could. This person was a horrible, twitchy liar. How had Dean not figured out the switch yet?

“I see. Please be more considerate next time. I may not need much sleep, but itis something I appreciate.”

“Yeah, sure, man.”

Kid turned to Dean, inwardly wanting to scream at him for not realizing the switch, but outwardly gave the older brother a blank look. “Since you found the body, the witch…?”

“She’s dead.”

Kid raised an eyebrow.

“I meant deader- You know what I mean.”

“Sure…”

An uncomfortable silence fell between the three.

“So,” Dean spoke up. “Me and Sam are heading out to a bar-”

Good. Maybe then, Kid would manage to separate the two and explain the situation to Dean. “I’ll be ready in a few.”

The impostor let out a shocked laugh. “What? Dude, you’re like thirteen. Me and Dean, we’re adults. We can drink and stuff.”

Oh, Kid had forgotten about that. Despite Death City technically being in the U.S., certain parts differed greatly, to account for the large presence of international students, such as adopting the Metric system, Celsius scale and changing the legal age to 18, not that Kid had bothered with the last part since he couldn’t get drunk anyways.

The elder Winchester shrugged. “Nothing I can do. You look underage, Kid, and I don’t think you got an ID.”

Kid´s sight was fixed on the impostor -or as the actual Sam had mentioned; Gary- as the two humans left the room. They’d get back eventually. Then he’d confront the impostor.

The body-snatcher was a teenager; that much he could tell from seeing Sam’s current form. And from what little he’d picked up, Gary was an ordinary teenager, his eagerness to get drunk and ‘do badass stuff’ revealed as much. Coupled with the picket fence house and a brief scan of the souls inside, his family was usual, if not a bit strict, in which case witchcraft would be an enticing prospect for a rebellious teenager. How Gary had recognized the brothers and why he was acting in that way was a mystery, though it could very well be that he didn’t understood the implications of his actions.

 _In that case_ , Kid thought to himself, _a proper demonstration on supernatural creatures is due._

Dark shadows, appeared on the edges of Kid’s form, the fluorescent yellow eyes glowing slightly brighter, contrasting the pale white skin.

 _You want an exciting encounter with the supernatural, Gary?_ The Grim Reaper’s lips turned up slightly into a faint smirk. _You should have been careful what you wished for_.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was several hours later, after Dean had come in and crashed on the bed, that Kid sensed Gary arriving on the motel. The body-snatcher tried sneakily make his way across the motel, towards Dean’s room, and he would have done so, hadn´t it been for a thin figure seemingly materialized from the dark shadows.

“So you came back. Dean was starting to worry.”

“K-Kid?” The imposter let out a sigh of relief. “You scared me, man. Why are you up so late?”

The boy pointedly ignored the body-snatcher’s attempt of small talk. “We haven’t properly met, yet. Hello, _Gary_.”

Fake-Sam’s eyes widened. “W-What?”

“Gary.” The Grim Reaper tilted his head in mock confusion. “Is that not your name?”

“Uh, no. My name is Sam-”

“Sam is the name of the original owner of this body, which you are not. You,” Kid took a step forwards while the human backed away, “are Gary. Am I mistaken?”

“Yes, you are!”

“It was a rhetorical question.”

The imposter adopted a nervous smile, which he quickly dropped upon seeing no change in Kid’s blank expression. “What are you saying, man?”

“Gary, you may have already guessed, but I’m not human.”

“Not human?” Fake-Sam let out a nervous mile. “H-Hah, that’s crazy talk, dude. What are you then? An alien?”

“Don’t try to play coy with me.” Gary stepped back as Kid walked towards him. “You know of the existence of the supernatural. If I may say, you are part of the community yourself, though the means are sketchy.”

“A-And how can you see that?”

“I can see your soul.” Kid tilted his head as if to look down on Sam’s body. “You are not Sam . You are a boy at his late teens, named Gary, who has been dabbing in the magical arts.”

“How do you know that-?“ the imposter cut himself off, “-I-I mean… what do you mean you can see my soul?” He took another step back, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. “Neither angels nor demons can see that much”

“Father and I are what you would call ‘experts when it comes to souls.”

“Yeah? Who’s he?”

“Death.” Kid gave the boy a mocking smile. “You may also know him as the Grim Reaper.”

The Reaper heard Gary actively gulp. “… De-Death? As in the horseman?”

“We don’t have horses in our house.”

Garry stumbled backwards towards the bed frame.

“Now then, may I ask how you performed such an underhanded trick?” Kid said slowly. “Playing with souls is not something I appreciate.”

“Get the hell away from me-!”

“ _Gary_ ,” Kid insisted in a soft tone which sent shivers down the body-snatcher’s mind. “Playtime is over. Tell me what you’re planning and I may spare your life.”

The tension was palpable. The imposter’s pathetic attempt of a rebuttal only fuelled Kid’s annoyance, causing dark writhing shadows to manifest at the edges of his skinny frame. For a moment, Gary’s eye caught glance of one of the monstrous shadows, then quickly focused ON Kid’s eyes which seeming to glow a menacing yellow…

“Ok!” the imposter exclaimed, shutting his eyes and turning away from the Grim Reaper. “Ok. I admit it. I’m Gary-”

Then Dean jumped out of the shadows, demon-killing knife in hand. “Fucking knew there something was wrong with Sam”

“Hello, Dean,” Kid calmly commented, still focused on Gary. “How nice of you to join us.”

The Winchester frowned. “You knew I was hiding?”

“Soul Perception.”

The elder brother shook his head before refocusing on Gary. He marched towards his brother’s body and put the demon knife right under the impostor’s Adams apple. “Where’s Sam?”

“He’s with Trev and Nora, they called me saying they’ve taken him hostage I think,” Gary fumbled on his own words, to the verge of tears. “I don’t know what they plan to do-I’m sorry-”

“Where?” Dean cut the imposter off from his frantic rant, applying more pressure to the knife.

“ _At Trevor’s house, Brown Street 24-!”_

Kid cursed loudly, before vanishing into the shadows. Dean blinked in surprise before turning back to the imposter.

“So, _Gary_ ,” Dean threw the teenager a scathing look. “Let’s talk.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Meanwhile, Sam trapped in Gary´s body and tied up in a chair, had inadvertently learned all about the situation. Gary and his two other friends, Trevor and Nora, were not only playing with witchcraft but also were talking with actual demons, as if the witchcraft part wasn’t bad enough. In that way, the three teenagers had learned about Dean Winchester, “the number one most wanted” in Hell, and the prize for his head and had devised an infuriatingly simple yet effective scheme.

Their plan was simple: Gary would pretend to be Sam in order to get near Dean and kill him. Thankfully from the brothers, something had gone wrong, and Gary had not fulfilled their goal yet, to the endless frustration of one of the teens…

“I'm calling up one of these bad boys, turning these punks over, and getting paid. Dolla, dolla, bills, y'all-!” sang Trevor, coming closer to a ritual pentagram, as Sam desperately fought against the ropes around him with Nora just staring in horror. That´s right, that red-headed idiot was about to summon a demon.

“There’s no reason for that,” A voice sounded. In that precise moment, a slim black-haired teenager wearing a black suit had appeared out of nowhere and was now giving the two teens a hard look. Trevor and Nora blinked in confusion. Sam, on the other hand, felt slightly relieved.

“The hell are you?” Travel said, staring at the stranger in disbelief.

“I’m a Grim Reaper.”

“What?”

“And you, young man and young lady, are in a lot of trouble!” said Kid furiously, one hand on his hip while the other pointed accusingly at the teens.

“We weren’t doing anything,” Nora tried to defend her and her friend. “Like I said we were just goofing off!”

“No we weren’t-!” Trevor started, but she cut him off.

“Shut up, Trev!”

“Yeah, Trev,” Sam mocked from the sidelines.

“Summon that demon and I’ll be collecting your souls.” Kid threatened, gaze fixed on the two teens.

“Really? And what if I summon the demon first, huh?” The red-headed teen shot back with a hint of challenge.

“You listen here, you little brat.” Death the Kid said, as he took a few steps forward. The shadows in the room seemed to expand and surround the Reaper. His yellow eyes were practically glowing with a killer intent and the two teens took a few steps back. “You want to summon that demon and complicate things, go right ahead. But realize that the moment you do that, you become my enemy and I’ll kill you because there are bigger things at stake here. So _what will it be_?”

“Ok,” Trevor gulped, raising his hands in a placating matter. “Ok, fine, we won’t do a thing, big guy.”

Kid sighed. “Well, I’m glad we got that settled,” he said as his form returned back to normal. He turned around and started untying Sam.

“Like hell,” Trevor muttered, as he grabbed a bottle with a red liquid inside

The girl shouted a desperate no, but the boy smashed the bottle spilling its contents all over Kid who flinched at the contact and took a step backwards.

“That’s _pomegranate_ juice, asshole! And that-!” he exclaimed, as he pointed to an intricate drawing on the ceiling, “-is a Reaper’s trap! So you’re home-bound, sucker!”

Indeed, as Kid took a step forwards he seemingly stumbled on an invisible barrier.

“Kid!” Sam shouted.

The idiotic boy started chanting, as Kid brought a fist to the barrier. There was a light flicker as the trap let out a few sparks. Trevor boy continued the summoning.

“No, don’t do it!” Sam yelled, as he fought against his constraints.

“This trap is weak.” Kid summoned most of his power. A dark energy surrounded his frame as he backed up one side of the trap, the part where his body and barrier were touching let out black and yellow sparks. The barrier broke right when Trevor finished his chant.

It was too late. The demon was summoned. Kid pulled on Sam’s restraints and disappeared.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“They… they had a Grim Reaper,” said Trevor, lying scared on the floor and clutching his broken hand. He had promised the two Winchester brothers to the demon and she was really disappointed. When found out they had ran away… Trevor’s arm was the first casualty.

“What?!” the demon hissed inside Nora`s body. “What do you mean a _Grim_ Reaper? How did it look like?!”

“Uh… uh… a teenager, I guess. He had black hair with some weird white stripes, wore a suit-”

The teen was cut off by the demon picking him up by the collar. “If you’re lying to me, you’ll regret it!”

“No, No!” Trevor protested, pointing towards the ceiling. “Look, Gary had set up a Reaper’s trap, just in case, but then that… thing broke it!”

The demon looked up to see the scorched remains of what resembled a Reaper’s trap. “That’s impossible. Our Lord has already subjugated Death.”

“Sam Winchester… he called him ‘Kid”... Does that help?”

“Kid?” the demon snorted. “No matter. Show me where Sam Winchester’s body is, we’ll see how it goes from there.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Meanwhile, Kid and Sam’s sudden arrival at the motel room went less smoothly than expected and involved copious amount of screaming.

“Who the hell are you-?!”

“Dean, that’s Sam -!”

“What the fuck-?!“

“You bastard give me back my body-!”

In that moment everyone, but Gary were thrown back to the wall unceremoniously. Kid and Sam were hold there by a mysterious force, and Dean fell hard to the ground, hitting his head and losing the Colt and the mystical knife in the process; Gary clutched his ribs in pain. The impostor looked up to see a smirking Nora and a miffed Trevor.

“Trevor, what the hell-?!” Gary started

“It’s your fault, Gary! Had you not pussied out, we’d be knee deep in power, but nooo, _you had to grow a goddamned conscience_ -!“

“Shut up, Trevor. You’re annoying,” the demon cut the taller boy off.

“Nora?!” Gary asked, his voice a mix of confusion and horror.

“That’s not her, Gary,” Sam warned. “Your buddy Trevor summoned a demon who possessed her.”

The demon gave the group a deranged smile. “My, my, what an interesting little group we have here! The Winchester brothers, a witch and a… little Reaper…”

“How observant,” Kid dryly said.

“Why, hello there. I know Sam and Dean, but I didn’t know they had a little Reaper in their merry group. You must be a new acquisition.” She strolled towards him, her fake smile never faltering. “It has been such a long time since I last saw one of your kind. Though, I must say you don’t seem like an ordinary Reaper.”

“Uh, I think that’s a Grim Reaper,” Gary added with a nervous smile.

Kid posture’s faltered, as the demon’s eyes also widened, focusing on the inhuman boy.

“ _Gary, you idiot, shut up,_ ” Dean muttered through clenched teeth.

“Grim Reaper… So you’re the one that little twerp claimed to trap.”

“I did trap him!” Trevor protested.

“Hardly. The trap was weak and asymmetrical.” Kid shot back, annoyed.

“Hey-!”

“But there’s a problem.” Taking a few tentative steps forwards, the demon focused on Kid. “If you’re the Grim Reaper,” she drawled, “then who is it our Lord has under his command?”

Kid clenched his teeth and fists.

“Oh dear, did I hit a nerve?” The demon mocked. “Trevor said your name was Kid…”

The Reaper’s eyes further narrowed.

“That’s an awfully specific name, isn’t it?”

Kid remained silent.

“Well, whatever,” the demon said nonchalantly, and focused at Gary. “I must say I´m impressed, really. You got the two Winchester brothers for me… You did earn your reward...” She gave the teen a ‘warm’ smile. “What is it? What do you want? Tell me, anything.”

Trevor wanted to protest, but he didn't dare to annoy the demon even more, so he settled for sulking in the background, clutching his hurt arm.

“I want to be a witch. A real one and more powerful,” Gary said, as the demon walked near him.

“Oh, I see. You want power; power to do whatever you want, power to be free… from your dad… from his Plan.” The creature smiled with cruel pleasure, walking around him like a cat stalking a mouse. “I can give that to you… you just need to meet our Lord and you will have everything you have always wanted…”

“L-Lord? You mean…?”

“That´s right. The Devil, Satan, Your Dark Majesty, whatever the kids call him nowadays.” The demon paused, noting the teenager´s panic. “Don´t be afraid. He will ask you a simple, single question and you just have to say yes…”

Sam’s eyes widened in panic. The young Winchester opened his mouth to shout at Gary.

“Ah yes, because dealing with the Devil is a trustworthy investment,” Kid said before Sam could speak up, earning him the demon´s attention once again.

“Say, why are you allied with the Winchester brothers anyway? They’d rather kill you than help you” She walked again where the young Reaper was detained until they were face-to-face.

“Well then it’s a good thing I’m hard to kill.” Kid sneered. “As for my reasons, I have my own agenda, which I don’t plan to discuss with you.”

“Being hard to kill never stopped them before. I’d double-check if I were you, _Grim_ Reaper or not.” The demon mocked.

Kid let out a long sigh. “Ok, this charade is over.” Said Kid tired of her

“Why yes, it is,” she said, smiling. “It´s time to call the Boss.”

However, since the demon centered all her attention on Kid, she hadn’t noticed Dean reaching for his jacket. The elder brother’s hands took hold of the Colt, and he immediately brought it up, aiming right between the demon’s eyes.

The next happened in a fraction of a second. The older Winchester was about to pull the trigger yet he was slammed back at the wall with full force.

“Dean!” Sam yelled as the possessed girl walked straight to Dean, with wrath on her eyes.

“What did you try to do, huh? _You wanted to kill me?!”_ She kicked Dean one time before repeating the same action again, again, and again. The demon´s power still had Kid and Sam against the wall, so they couldn't move in order to help Dean, while Trevor and Gary were just watching in horror, as blood flowed free from the hunter´s mouth and nose.

All of a sudden, fake-Sam started chanting an exorcism, weakening her power on the Reaper and Sam; Gary´s new liking for Dean was stronger than horror or ambition. The possessed girl quickly turned and headed towards the teen, but was tackled by Kid shortly after. The demon trashed at the Reaper’s firm hold, using her magic to hit him with force that would kill a normal human, yet Kid’s grip remained steady. The Winchesters joined the exorcism.

She grabbed a nearby knife brought it right above the collarbone before Kid caught her hand. Kid, however, was slowly losing the battle as the exorcism gave the demon strength only a truly desperate person could muster, resulting in the demon inverting position with him, but Kid never let her go, even when she tried to stab him. Kid’s eyes narrowed. The blade came uncomfortably close to the Reaper’s skin.

In one swift gesture the boy let go of the demon’s hands. The blade sunk in right below his collarbone, but Kid’s hands were aiming for a different target.

The Reaper plunged his hand at the girl’s torso. “ _Get out_.”

The demon let out an inhumane scream, black mist flowing out though her mouth, ears and eyes before bunching up into a cloud and being plunged through the floor downwards, leaving a scorch mark behind. Nora’s unconscious body collapsed on top of a heavy breathing Kid.

It was over.

Dean helped Sam gently roll away the girl’s body from the Reaper. Dean raised his eyes at Kid’s exhausted form. “You alive?”

Kid let out a low rumble as he reached for the knife and pulled it out in one swift motion, ignoring the blood coming from the open wound. “Do all your excursions go so swimmingly?”

“That was one of the good ones.”

“Good grief...”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“ _Animae domum redeant. Fas atque nefas instauretur. Potestate et auctoritate, sic fiat_.” Gary dropped a black powder into a ceramic bowl located between him and Sam, causing a bright light to flare from it. When the light died down, it was the same bodies staring at each other, yet you could see the change in attitude. Gary’s body, with the teenager now in it, looked away in discomfort, while Sam got up and looked at himself in a mirror mounted on the motel´s room.

“So, we good?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, we're good.” Sam let out a relieved sight and rotated his shoulders. “Oh, man, it's nice to be back.”

“Yeah. Awesome.” Gary mumbled, depressed of returning to his boring life.

“Finally,” Kid mumbled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

“Can we go now?” Trevor moaned, reclining on the nearby wall and clutching his broken hand. “I have to go to a hospital.”

Dean scoffed as he regarded the three teens. “No. Let’s talk about your summoning a demon and the whole body-snatching scheme-“

“It wasn’t a big deal.” Trevor shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. “You know, we’re teenagers, wanted to rebel-”

“You played with souls because you felt like _rebelling_?!” Kid hissed standing up and glaring daggers at the three teenagers. “Do I even need to point out the idiotic, inconsiderate, _ignorant…_ -?”

“Kid-” Dean warned.

“And as for you two idiots!” the Grim Reaper turned to the brothers. “If you’d allowed me to help in the first place, we’d have left the city before this wannabe sorcerer figured out where you were!”

“We won’t do it again, we promise!” Nora shouted a bit too forcefully, briefly shielding Gary from the ranting Reaper.

“You’d better keep your word, you three,” Kid turned to the teenagers. “Because if you repeat this farce, I will come for you and it won’t be for polite conversation.” He coughed. “Now excuse me, I’ll go throw up. _Damn Pomegranates…_ ”

Dean looked to the retreating Reaper. “What he said. Let’s be clear Gary, Nora and you little idiot, Trevor. If you were of voting age… you’d be dead. Because we’d hunt you down. So either stop messing with things beyond you or it will come back to bite you in the ass. Capiche?”

“…Capiche,” the three teens said,lowering their heads in defeat.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The Impala pulled up outside Gary’s house, with the humans getting out. After a brief exchange between the brothers and three teenagers, the Winchesters went back into the car. The brothers and Reaper sat in silence.

Kid crossed his arms in annoyance. If his earlier rant earned another snarky glance from the hunter pair, so help him-

“Oi Kid,” Dean said.

“What?”

“Nice freak out back there. Scared the pants of the wannabe witches.”

“… I’ll take it as a compliment.” Kid sighed. “It was nice of Sam to sympathize with Gary; as much of an idiot as that boy is, he’s not… evil, in a sense.”

Dean turned to Sam. “Did you mean it, Sam? All that apple-pie, family crap?”

Sam snorted. “No.That kid's life sucked ass. It's stressful. Trust me – we didn't miss a damn thing.”

“Or we don't know what we're missing.”

And with that, Dean started to drive.


	3. Time Travelling Shenanigans

At least this motel had a few basic appliances he could distract himself, Kid mused as he stirred the dark brown liquid in a small pot. The motel room where the three were staying in had a small kitchenette, consisting of a simple stove, a sink and basic weathered kitchenware. The pot was currently used by the young Grim Reaper, humming as he stirred the contents inside. Sam was out for some errand Kid didn’t know about, and Dean was napping on one of the beds.

After the demon fiasco that happened about a week ago, Kid’s relationship with the brothers improved somewhat. Still distrusting, but with less ‘you-are-plotting-something’ and more ‘still-not-used-to-this-whole-Grim-Reaper-thing’. Case in point he wasn’t under constant surveillance, like in with brief moments like this, and Kid was ‘free’ to do what he wanted.

The sound of a door opening behind him alerted the boy of someone entering the room. After a brief search with his Soul Perception, Kid let out a small sigh when he sensed it was Sam. Even though the whole ‘soul-switching’ mess was over, Kid double-checked the room with his Soul Perception every now and then, to make sure there weren’t any more soul-transferring shenanigans or a demon with a vengeance popping up to kill them.

“I made yοu dinner,” the teen spoke up as he heard Sam deposit a plastic bag on a nearby table.

“You cook?” the human said and looked at Kid, surprised.

“Someone has to. Have you been living on fast food until now?”

Sam looked away guiltily. “Dean prefers burgers.”

Kid stopped his stirring and turned the stove off. “They will only send you to an early grave, and the last thing I want is you dying in the middle of a case,” the boy said as he inspected the contents, before taking asmall sip from the ladle.

“Uh...” Sam’s voice trailed off, “thanks, I guess.”

The moment was cut short as Dean, no warning given, shot up from the bed, nearly falling out of it. The elder Winchester looked around wildly, before he realized where he was, and rubbed his brow. Sam and Kid looked at him in mute expectation.

“Insomnia can be a first sign of an unhealthy diet,” the Reaper said after a few seconds.

“What-?” Dean cut himself off, and sniffed loudly. “Are those lentils?”

“Yes, it’s a soup of Balkan origin.”

“Lentil soup?” Sam asked.

“Some ingredients differ, such as the addition of Daphne leaves, and-”

“Hey, if you ladies can cut the food talk,” Dean cut the Reaper off, “I’ve got news.”

Kid gave him a deadpan stare. “You were _sleeping_.”

Dean gave him a mocking smile. “A Winchester always works. By the way, I need to tell Cas too, hey Castiel-!”

There was a sound of ruffled feathers followed by a voice coming right behind Sam. “Hello.”

The younger Winchester nearly jumped in place. “ _Crying out loud-!_ ”

“Good evening Castiel,” the boy greeted as he took another bowl from the cabinet. “Would you be interested in dinner?”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

A few minutes later, the two hunters, angel and Grim Reaper sat around the room, small steaming bowls in hand. Dean started by saying he met up with an angel, called Anna, in his dreams. After a raised eyebrow from Kid, Sam quickly explained that this was a legit strategy angels used to communicate, with Castiel reluctantly agreeing. Getting back on tract, Anna claimed she wanted to help the Winchesters fight Lucifer, which brought some relief, only to be immediately shattered as Castiel relayed Anna’s true plans of killing Sam and spreading his molecules across the galaxies.

“Wait, why does the angel want to kill Sam?” Kid asked, looking at the group in confusion. “Both of you are working against Lucifer.”

“Uh…” Dean uttered, at loss of how to explain the brother’s conundrum.

Enter Castiel, the walking-talking deadpan exposition. “Sam is Lucifer’s perfect vessel.” At the angel’s dry tone, the younger Winchester looked away, in a mix of frustration and desperation.

There was a small pause.

“…This,” Kid eventually said, “complicates things.”

“You don’t say,” murmured Sam, before turning to the angel. “Would that work...? Killing me?”

“No,” Dean said immediately, getting the same reply from Castiel as well.

Sam turned to the Reaper. “Kid?”

“Well, you’re not going to say yes to Lucifer, are you?”

“What-no-Of course I won’t!”

Dean sat up straighter than before. “Are you getting any bright ideas kid?”

“Let me finish Dean.” Kid sighed and turned to the younger Winchester. “Sam, you claim you won’t say yes, and I have no reason to believe you’d do otherwise.”

“But what if I do say yes?”

“That’s up to you. Not much we can do-”

“Except kill me.”

“Well with that logic, we might as well kill everyone,” the Reaper said in exasperation. “Anyone can do harm, if they wish to. However, as I’m sure you’re aware, most people have a conscience, morals, what have you, which is how this planet is kept in a relative degree of order.” He gestured to Sam. “In your case the stakes are higher, but the probability of you willingly saying yes is… quite low.”

“That’s true,” Castiel voiced his agreement. “Also, if Anna does succeed in killing you, Lucifer or I and Dean will find a way to bring you back, Sam. And…” the angel hesitated, “make sure Anna doesn’t get to you ever again.”

“That’s… um…” Sam looked away unsure how to respond. “Thanks, I guess?”

Castiel gave him a stoic nod. Then he took a small sip of the soup. “This is nice.”

“Thank you,” Kid replied.

Dean, who had raised his eyebrows approvingly at the two supernatural creatures, leaned back against the armchair. “So what do we do? Do we start making angel wards, get Castiel to polish his angel blade?”

The angel sighed. “I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that.”

“Of course it is,” the older Winchester drawled. “So what do we do?”

“We find her.”

“Poke the bear?” Sam asked, his expression revealing he wanted anything but getting close to the female angel.

“More like restrain it,” Castiel said. “If Anna is coming after you, we have to be prepared. If we’re lucky we can restrain her, trap her momentarily.”

Sam tilted his head in confusion. “And we find her... how?”

“We can…” the angel paused deep in thought. “Be right back.”

And with a whoosh, he was gone.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was about fifteen minutes later, after Dean and Sam had finished their dinner that Castiel showed up, mystical artefacts in tow. Wordlessly, he deposited an old worn ceramic bowl in the middle of the coffee table, and dropped a mixture of dry leaves and some other unknown substances into it. Finally, he took a handful of ash, placed his hand over the bowl and started chanting.

“ _Zod ah ma ra la ee est la gi ro sa_.” He let the ashes fall into the bowl.

There was a cackling sound and red flames shot over the container, getting dangerously close to the curtains.

“Don’t burn the place down,” Kid muttered from the background.

Castiel stepped away from the table and leaned on the back of a chair, eyes closed and breathing heavily. The brothers looked worriedly at the angel.

“Oh no, you’ve got that look,” Dean mumbled. “What did she do?”

“She travelled back.”

Sam frowned. “What?”

“Anna travelled back in time.” The angel gulped. “1978.”

“We weren’t alive then-”

“But your parents were,” Castiel cut Sam off, alarmed. “She’ll try to kill your parents so that Sam never gets born and the Apocalypse never takes place…”

“Does that mean she’s scared of facing you three?” The Reaper placed his hands on his hips. “I have to say, I’m impressed.”

“Ok, so she time-travelled,” Dean spoke up. “Big deal, we go after her before she screws up the past.”

“No, I should go alone-”

“Cas, these are our parents. We’re going with you.”

“I can’t do that, Sam.”

“Cas-” Dean warned.

“I’m serious. I barely have enough energy to go back in time, without even mentioning bringing passengers along. It would… exhaust me.”

The two brothers sat in silence, while the angel sank further back into the armchair.

“If I may…” Kid carefully spoke up. “I think I can help. Father and I can do limited time travel. Helps with collecting the souls-”

“I thought it is the Reapers that do that,” Castiel said.

The boy tilted his head to the side. “Reapers signal the soul to leave the body. Then the soul follows instinct and lets itself into the afterlife. Some souls however, grow too attached to this world and ‘forget’ how to move on. We help these souls pass on.”

“That’s sweet in its own twisted way,” Dean commented.

“Well, can you help?” Sam asked Kid, who in turn faced Castiel.

“You said you were cut off from Heaven’s power. Perhaps I could provide it?”

Dean looked expectantly at the angel. “Will it work?”

“I don’t know…” Castiel turned to Kid. “How much power can you provide?”

The boy shrugged. “Not much I’m afraid. I’m not a mature Grim Reaper, but it’s better than relying solely on your own-”

Dean looked at both parties, tapping his foot in impatience. “Alright then, what are we waiting for?”

Sam furrowed his brow. “How do we know Kid’s Reaper magic will react to Castiel though?”

“Well, I could help as a middle-man,” Kid said, “make sure no side harms each other, and Castiel could focus on the spell itself.”

Dean nodded. “Sounds like a plan. So how will we do this?”

“Dean, Sam, you hold my hand.” The angel nodded at the Grim Reaper. “I’m ready.”

Kid closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, calling the dormant power inside of him. Tendrils of black smoke circled his lithe frame, their ends forming skeletal faces as they let out barely audible hisses. Sam watched the demonstration with slight awe and a considerable amount of dread, whereas Dean raised his eyebrows and reached his gun with his free hand.

“Ready?” Castiel’s voice reverberated in the small motel room.

“Sure, let’s perform time travel with an angel and a Grim Reaper,” Dean muttered. “Yolo.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Their arrival in the past went less than smoothly.

Sam groaned, as he slowly lay up from the sidewalk. He had a slight headache, and his vision had gone white for a moment, but thankfully both were slowly receding. Judging from a familiar groan on his right, Dean must have been in the same state as him.

“Oh boy. Remind me not to time travel with an angel and a Reaper ever again.”

The younger Winchester hummed in mock agreement. He and Dean slowly stood up and scanned the sidewalk, looking for their two inhuman companions. They found Castiel slumped on the side of a car a few meters away, with Kid sprawled on the pavement.

“Ugh… what?” The brothers heard the angel mutter as they approached him.

“Cas?” Sam asked, as Dean helped the angel on his feet. “You alright?”

“Much better than I expected-” his statement was cut short by another wave of dry coughs, and nearly collapsed to the point of Dean shouldering the angel’s entire weight.

“Ugh…” A fourth groan reminded them of the other supernatural being.

“Hey,” Dean said from beneath the mass known as Castiel. “You alive?” He asked in amusement.

“You’re hilarious,” Kid coughed. “I feel weird...” Then he promptly fainted.

“Well, this is wonderful,” the older brother said, his voice strained from the angel’s weight. “Two down, two to go.”

“Let’s just get them to a motel,” Sam suggested, as he carefully picked Kid up.

“No fair man, you got the skinny one.”

The younger brother groaned in frustration.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid woke up with a headache. He felt weak. Not as in mentally or physically exhausted, but as if something was blocking his inner strength. Where was he? The Reaper looked around, to see he was in a fairly unkempt room –he grimaced at the room’s disorderly state. If previous experience with the Winchesters was any indication, he was probably in a grubby motel.

He attempted to sit up. What he managed to do was only roll to the side. Adjacent to him, on a second bed, was barely conscious Castiel.

Ah. Kid remembered. He’d kinda fallen unconscious after the time-travelling trip. Wonderful. Hopefully Dean and Sam hadn’t gotten themselves killed yet.

“How are you feeling?” Kid spoke up, in hopes Castiel was still lucid enough.

The angel groaned. “Awful.”

At least he got a response. “Sam and Dean?”

“They left. Gave me an address.”

Ok. That was something. How thoughtful. It was probably Sam’s idea, as the younger brother appeared to be the more thoughtful of the two.

“Well,” Kid sat up with some difficulty, “let’s go.” Despite his body and part of his mind protesting any sort of movement, the Reaper sat up at the edge of the bed. Last thing he did was trust the Winchesters being alone, especially when time-travelling shenanigans were involved. Their very existence was threatened, and the two seemed to attract dangers like moths to a light. With their luck, an archangel with a grudge might appear out of nowhere.

Out of the corner of his eye, Castiel let out an uncharacteristic grunted as he got up. His shoulders were slouched, and the pained expression he had looked like it was carved on the angel’s face.

“You do seem awful,” Kid noticed, his exhaustion lessening his tact.

“I would have been much worse if you had not helped. Thank you.” The angel rotated with shoulders before standing upright, with only a single wobble.

“Not a problem,” the teen replied, as he stretched and felt several bones pop in place. He also got up, though in his case he needed extra support, provided by the wall adjacent to the bed.

Castiel took a look at Kid’s valiant attempt of standing upright. “If Anna attacks, we won’t be of much help. Maybe we should stay back.”

The boy paused, furrowing his brow. “You have a point. But,” he straightened his back, “still, we could warn them if we sense she’s close.”

And with that both angel and Reaper half-walked, half-stumbled down the stairs. The business’ owner squinted at the pair but remained silent as the two beings left the motel.

It was evening, Kid noted. According to what the boy remembered when they arrived, besides the sudden exhaustion, was the summer sun smack-bad in the middle of the sky. Now, the sun was setting and a cool gust of wind ran through the entire city, rustling the trees in a nearby park.

Speaking of the park… Kid felt a sudden urge of energy at that location. Now, if he didn’t have a headache, he might be able to properly see the cause of the disturbance. The time travel must have taken its toll on him.

Well. Thankfully, Soul Perception wasn’t very energy intensive… Kid looked back at the park, this time with his sixth sense active.

And stopped dead on his feet.

“What is it?” the angel asked, who looked worriedly at Kid, then looked around in alarm, as if Anna would pop up out of nowhere, angel blade in hand.

“I sense two angels.” Kid’s statement made Castiel’s earlier suspicion all the more possible. “They’re over there,” the Reaper gestured at the general direction of the trees.

“Is it Anna?”

“I’m not sure. I should be able to identify them, but…”

“We were both weakened by the trip.” Castiel looked towards the park. “We shouldn’t engage.”

On a level Kid had to agree. He didn’t want to find out if an angel’s ‘smiting’ applied to Grim Reapers as well. Probably not, but one could never be sure. “I’m not planning to.” Though this brought up a valid point. Did the female angel know Kid was on the Winchester’s side? If not, she probably wouldn’t attack him on the spot, giving him some legroom… “I have an idea. Not sure if it’ll work, but I need you to stay back.”

To say Castiel did not look pleased was an understatement. “Anna is strong. She may kill you.”

Kid gave the angel an amused smile. “I’m a Grim Reaper. ‘Easy to kill’ is not one of my characteristics.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid briskly walked his way towards the two angelic souls. There was no point in being subtle. The angels’ souls were a beacon of light, and the young Grim Reaper’s soul carried its own distinct wavelength. Sneaking would be as effective as painting a plane carrier in the middle of the Atlantic in forest camo paint. They’d both sense each other when they close enough. Kid simply had the advantage of seeing them first.

As he approached them, Kid sensed one of the souls to teleport away, leaving the female angel behind. Good.

When he reached the small clearing, Anna already had her sights on him. “You look awful.”

Kid frowned. That was rude. The angel wasn’t in a perfect condition either; there were dark circles under her eyes and she had a slight hunch. “Miss Anna.”

The angel gave Kid a long look. “You’re…”

“I’m a Grim Reaper. Death the Kid. Death’s son.”

“I see. You’re from my time. Are you allied with the brothers?”

Well. Kid’s cover was up. “Yes. You want to kill Sam Winchester.”

“He’s Lucifer’s vessel. The one who bound your father.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you here to stop me?”

“Killing Sam Winchester will accomplish nothing. It’s not his time and he has friends and family that will protect him at all costs. He is already against Lucifer and I’m sure he will not give his consent.”

“You’re certain?”

“You’d be surprised by how much information a person’s soul reveals.”

“And if I keep going after Sam Winchester?”

“You’ll die.”

“By you?”

Kid shrugged. “Maybe. If not by me, then by someone else. Both sides want Sam Winchester alive.” Maybe he could solve this in a polite matter-

“Exactly. That’s why he must die.”

Kid sucked in a sharp breath. Pulling teeth it was. “Your disregard for life is disgusting, let me finish-” he immediately added when he saw Anna about to protest. “As I said, you should value the life of others, especially when you are an angel yourself, Miss Anna. Some humans look up to you for protection, or what may. You’re acting like a psychopath, planning on how to kill an unborn child because there is a slight chance he’ll make the ‘wrong’ choice.”

“But if Sam Winchester does-”

“That’s up to him to decide. Right now, you’re not giving him much reason to support the ‘good’ side.”

Anna looked away and Kid noticed her hands were clenched tightly.

“You can help us, you know.”

“Help you?”

“The more the merrier,” he said with slight humor in his voice.

“There is no other way to stop the Devil.”

“We’re working on it.”

“That’s what Castiel said.”

Kid shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

Anna looked a bit hesitant. “What’s your plan then?” She challenged. “Has Castiel found God? The Colt can’t kill him either.”

“A Grim Reaper could.”

“That’s your plan? You’re not strong enough.”

“It’s in an early phase. I know I’m not strong enough. However, dad…” The boy looked away, trying to collect his thoughts. “If we manage to free my father from Lucifer’s spell, or if I manage to become a mature Grim Reaper, we could kill Lucifer.”

“I thought the Grim Reapers were supposed to stay neutral.”

“We’re here to preserve the order. Everything in this world is a balance. The Apocalypse would destroy the balance and…” Kid trailed off for a moment before regaining his focus. “Well, everything.”

“The Apocalypse is part of the balance.”

“According to whom? There are several others who would disagree with your worldview. Why is the end of the world part of the balance?”

“This world is flawed, unbalanced, isn’t it? So…” Anna said, confused.

“This doesn’t mean it has to be destroyed!” Kid took a deep breath. “Yes, the world is not perfect. There are things that are disorderly and the balance is fragile. However… if something is flawed, you don’t destroy it. You try to fix what you can and, as for the flaws you can’t fix, I guess you just have to… accept them. Perhaps order and chaos are a balance too…” The boy shook his head, cutting himself off. “It… took me a long time to see the world that way. I’m not sure if it’s the perfect answer; maybe there isn’t a perfect answer.”

Anna stayed silent.

“Maybe I’m overthinking it. However, I stand by my views and I’m sure father would do the same. He loves this world too and has been doing his best to help. I wish to do the same. I wish to prevent this planet’s end, but killing Sam Winchester will not stop the Apocalypse no matter how far you spread his molecules. Killing Lucifer will.”

“The battle may destroy the world.”

“The planet,” Kid said. “And, not necessarily. Not if Lucifer doesn’t expect an attack.”

“How will you do that?”

The Reaper shrugged. “Early phase.”

Anna vanished.

The boy slumped back to a tree. “This went better than expected.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Castiel, who had been sitting in a bench for the past twenty minutes, quickly stood up when he saw Kid exiting the park. “You’re alive.”

“Obviously.”

The angel did a double take of Kid’s form. Besides a slight slump, the boy didn’t have any new wounds, or looked any worse for the wear. “What happened? Did you talk with Anna?”

“Yes. I tried to convince her to stop this whole thing.” Kid paused in recollection. “Not sure if it worked, but one can hope.”

Castiel nodded in understanding before sitting back at the bench. The Reaper followed suit.

“When you were talking with her, I’d been thinking… There’s one more thing we can try.”

Kid looked at the angel in anticipation.

“We can summon Anna to where we are. That way we can stop her, even if briefly.”

“Are you sure? None of us are in the best of states right now.”

“Same goes to her. Anna was a prisoner, she has been caught off of Heaven’s power like me,” the angel explained. “Her trip must have weakened her, only less as she didn’t have passengers.”

Kid thought back when he’d met Anna. He had thought she looked a bit weary...“She didn’t seem to be in the best of shapes when I saw her…”

That seemed to be all the confirmation Castiel needed. After a quick return to the motel to get the extra duffel bag the brothers had got with them, the angel and Reaper went towards the outer reaches of the city. Thanks to Kid’s Soul Perception they were able to find a derelict building, an abandoned graffiti-ridden warehouse, with broken windows, and an unstable roof. There, Castiel emptied the duffel bag, fist picking up a box of chalk and drawing various wards and Enochian symbols.

It took a considerable amount of time for the spell to be prepared. When they were finished, the sun had set, and the starry sky was looming above.

Castiel looked at Kid who returned the gaze. In front of them, a vessel surrounded by a sequence of the symbols was ready to be used. For Kid´s comfort every sign was symmetrical, ending with Anna´s real name in the angels’ native tongue. Thanks to that small detail Castiel could guarantee that she, and only she, would be called. The angel took a long breath; neither of them could be sure what would happen when the female angel arrived, but they needed to take the risk.

“ _Slegna raeh ym eciov won dnouns lla eht yaw nwod morf eht dnourg_ ” Castiel started chanting, and the emblems glowed “… now come... A-”

He paused the moment he tried to call the angel’s name. Frozen like a statue, he kept looking at the spell with wide eyes.

The Reaper looked between the angel and the spell. “Castiel?”

“An archangel is here...” He whispered, and took a step back. “…Oh no.”

“Castiel?” Kid asked again. Whatever had caused the angel such alarm couldn’t be good.

“It’s Michael. And he’s angry.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Black coils of mist surrounded her frame, and she vanished… Her sight went black for a moment, then she was in a complete different place with two male figures in front of her.

“Evening-” An intense coughing fit stopped Kid from continuing his sentence, with Castiel supporting his small frame.

“Castiel.” The female angel acknowledged the third occupant of the room her voice a bit shaky because of her near death experience literally moments ago.

“Anna-”

“You saved me. From Michael-”

“Not for long,” Castiel interrupted her, “hide your presence before-”

“Too late,” an unknown voice came from behind the female angel.

Anna turned around, and immediately took a few steps back, as Castiel tensed and Kid lifted his gaze to the archangel.

“Michael…” Castiel stated in mute horror.

The archangel gave them the three an amused look with his standard patronizing smirk. “Anna, Castiel and… a Reaper?” Kid raised his hand in acknowledgement, the other hand clutching his stomach as he let out a few pained coughs. “Doesn’t your kind normally wear glasses?”

“You tried to kill me,” Anna said with a hint of disbelief.

“You want to kill one of the Winchesters,” Michael responded matter-of-factly.

“It’s important. Sam is…”

“Lucifer’s vessel. I know.”

“Then why?”

“The battle must happen, Anna.”

“But the world-”

“We will bring Heaven to Earth. As for you two-”

“Anna.”

The angels turned to Kid.

“It is as I told you before,” Kid gave her a weird look. “You cannot stop the Apocalypse. It’s part of the balance.”

Castiel gave Kid a sideways look, ready to protest, but Kid lightly jabbed the angel.

Castiel’s eyes widened, as he composed himself and addressed Michael in an unsure tone. “Yes, we were trying to tell Anna that. Surely you can forgive her? She did not know…”

Anna was thoroughly confused, but managed to remain calm. “…I did not know. I’m sorry. It will not happen again.”

Michael gave them a huge fake smile. “I’m so glad you understand. I’d hate to have to kill you. Now excuse me brother, sister, Reaper, but I have a vessel to return.”

For a brief second, the shadow of enormous multi-layered wings appeared behind Michael. There was a woosh, and the archangel was gone.

Kid comically slid down, letting out a huge breath.

“A thank you would be nice,” Castiel said to Anna, as he continued to support the young Reaper.

Said female angel appeared to be in a state of shock, if her nervous gulping was of any indication. “I lied.”

“Yes.”

“To our eldest brother. Michael.”

“He didn’t seem very pleasant, if that’s any consolation,” Kid muttered.

“Did you plan this?”

The teen let out a nervous laugh. “Absolutely not.”

The angel did a double-take. “Why did you attack Castiel?”

“Excuse you?”

“You hit Castiel’s ribs with your elbow,” she said in a complete serious tone.

“Poking,” Castiel hurriedly explained, “is a method humans and other creatures use to alert someone they’re missing something.”

“Oh. I though the Grim Reaper didn’t like you much.”

Kid glanced at Castiel in confusion. The male angel shook his head. “Let’s just meet up with the Winchesters”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The moment Dean saw Anna his eyes went comically wide, and he instinctively covered Sam with his still-functioning arm. As for the younger brother, he resigned for a look of shock mixed with horror.

“The hell is she doing here?” The younger Winchester shot a glare at the female angel. “What happened with Michael?!”

“Well, you three look like shit,” Dean jokingly said, his anger barely concealed over his jovial tone.

“Comment much appreciated,” Castiel deadpanned, in a rare display of sarcasm. “We need to find a way to get back. Michael is away and Anna is on our side.”

“No shit,” the elder Winchester replied, as he faced Anna with hostility. “Sorry for not welcoming you with open arms, but you sorta broke mine when you turned me into a ragdoll.”

“I apologize-”

Dean, however, was having none of that. “Sure thing, tell it to the wall, cause I’m not listening-”

“Would you stop that for one second-!” Kid’s protest got swallowed up by another coughing fit, as the Reaper backed up against the wall, struggling to remain upright.

Dean frowned as he took in Kid’s sickly appearance. “What happened to you?”

“He spent too much energy. I believe that’s affecting him.” Castiel looked at the brothers. “And you two don’t look well at all. What happened?”

“Well, Uriel popped in, and freaking _Michael_ appeared,” the elder Winchester said in a bitter tone. “We had a _delightful_ conversation, and then he left.”

“Sam?”

“I’m alright. Michael… he said some bullshit about destiny, but I’m ok.” Sam looked away. “We should head back to the motel. We can… talk through things there.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

They were back at the motel. Dean was currently nursing his newly-healed arm, a peace-offering by Anna which took plenty of coaxing to accept. Sam was going through their bags, sorting through their supplies. Kid was sprawled on the bed with a forearm over his face, while Castiel was zoning out in a nearby armchair. Anna was standing upright near the room’s entrance, shooting awkward glances between the room’s occupants, and looking completely lost.

“Well this is it,” the elder Winchester mumbled.

“This is what?” Sam asked.

“Team Free Will,” Dean announced louder, so the other three supernatural beings could hear him. “One ex-blood junkie, one dropout with 6 bucks in his name, Mr Comatose, boy Wednesday Adams, and Glenn Close.”

“I don’t understand that reference,” Anna muttered.

The bothers didn’t grace her with a reply. Sam shook his head before addressing the angels and Reaper. “So do any of you have any juice left?”

“No,” Anna replied, missing the rejection with the naivety only a celestial being could accomplish. “I spent mine.”

“And Castiel’s empty too while the resident Grim Reaper is currently resembling a corpse,” said the younger Winchester, ignoring Kid’s haughty look. “This is just wonderful.”

“Well…” the boy spoke up. “There is someone who could provide us with power.”

“Awesome,” Dean absent-mindedly said as he flexed his fingers again, checking for any permanent damage. “Who are we talking about?”

“My father. If we contact him…”

“Death has a payphone-?”

The teen grimaced. “Don’t be obscene Dean-”

“Can we contact him?” Sam spoke up. Kid hadn’t opened up about what happened at Lucifer’s summoning but it was pretty much implied that he could not get in touch with the older Grim Reaper.

“In our time I can’t, because of Lucifer’s seal. However, in this time period…” Kid slowly stood up from the bed. “Please stay back. No sudden moves either; I’m not in the best of shapes for a retry.”

Dean gave Sam a sideways look at the boy’s remark. The younger Winchester frowned, but placed the bags on a nearby coffee table, giving the Grim Reaper space.

Kid stood against the bed, leaving quite a bit of space in front of him. Taking a deep breath, the boy rotated his palms, so they were facing out and pulled them close to his chest, where his heart was. He placed the tips of the fingers together, separated them and then bunched up his fingers before extended them out. With a mighty hiss, a stream of black and purple magic poured from Kid’s frame. The two brothers instinctively took step back in surprise, whereas the two angels watched in interest. The strings of shadows embedded themselves to the floor, forming an elaborate purple-glowing magic seal which resembled a skull.

The room’s non-reaper occupants prepared mentally for a terrifying sight. The Grim Reaper they’d seen in Lucifer’s summon was a massive creature, with a pointy body as black as the darkest of nights; his figure alien, barely resembling a human’s anatomy, whereas its face was a gruesome human skull…

“Hello, hello~! Who is this?” said an oddly cheerful and nosey voice, revealing a comically-looking skull attacked to a cartoonish figure clad in a black cloak-like material, which shifted every now and then.

Sam’s mouth turned into a comically flat line. _“What.”_

Besides him, Dean copied the gesture, and accompanied it with raised eyebrows. _“Well, I’ll be damned.”_

Kid was completely oblivious to the brother’s antics, and looked at the figure with a hopeful look. “Father?”

“…Excuse me, I think you might have me confused with someone else- Oh,” Death paused. Kid’s expression faltered, as the figure tilted its head sideways, and gave the boy a calculating look. “You’re a Grim Reaper.”

“…Yes.”

“And you’re not from this time, are you?”

“No. I’m from the future.”

“I see…”The black figure wobbled to one side. “So you’re saying you’re my son… from the future?”

“Yes.” Kid nodded, and looked away. He felt childish, but when his father didn’t recognize him, a painful feeling rose to his chest…

“You’re as cute as a button~!”

“Eh?” Kid whipped his head to look at the elder being, in the exact moment a massive cartoony white hand ruffled the young Reaper’s hair.

“Look at those cute healthy lines of yours!”

Castiel watched the exchange in silence, while Anna frowned in confusion. The elder Winchester’s eyebrows skyrocketed when the black mass that was Death picked Kid up like a kitten, and gave him an awkward parental hug.

“Father, please don’t-”

“Oh, it’s like one of those comedy shows on TV humans like to watch~!”

‘ _Wow_ ,’ Dean mouthed to his brother who gave him a warning glare not to interrupt.

Death let his future son out of his grasp, as Kid patted away any stray ruffled hairs.

“So why are you here, kiddo?”

“Well-”

“No wait, don’t say it, you’ll ruin the surprise!”

Yes, he still was his dad. Kid noted and gave his parent a small smile. “I will not say anything then, father.”

Lord Death finally seemed to notice the other angels. “Oh dear. Son, have you gotten involved with angels?” he asked, much in the same way a parent would do if their kid was involved in a shady drug ring.

Anna looked offended.

“Well, uh… it’s a long story.”

“…I see. Can I ask one more question then?”

“Sure, father.”

“Am I a good parent?”

Kid gave his dad one of his brightest smiles. “You’re the best, dad,” and hugged him. It was a bit awkward, but he found himself lifted into the air by his dad’s massive hands.

“Should I be worried that the Grim Reapers have a better father-son relationship than we had?”

“Shut up, Dean,” Sam hissed, not wanting to spoil this very odd family reunion.

Meanwhile, the two Grim Reapers had stopped hugging, though Death gave one final pat to Kid’s head.

“So, I’m guessing you have somewhere to go.”

“Yes. We want to return back to our time, but have little power to do so.”

“Ah, I see. Gimme a sec~!”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

After another mini freak light-show, followed by a final quick hug between the Grim Reapers, the Winchesters, Castiel, Anna and Kid found themselves back in their own time. Anna quickly excused herself and left, while Castiel wondered bit to make sure the brothers were alright, before making his exit as well.

“So that’s your old man,” Dean said after a moment of silence.

“Yeah.”

“That was uh…some hug.”

Kid made a face. “Father is always overeager when it comes to these things. Usually I get a bit annoyed, but…”

“But?”

The young Reaper hesitated. “I guess I’m starting to feel homesick.”

“Things will work out,” Sam immediately said, then paused.

“That’s why I’m here. To make sure things work out.”

A heavy silence fell between them. Dean and Sam looked awkwardly at each other, while Kid fiddled with his cuffs.

“Well if you don’t mind, I’ll go clean up the counter,” the Reaper eventually said and stood up. “There may be some leftover soup, I should store it for lunch tomorrow…”

As Kid left and busied himself with cleaning up the kitchenette, Dean approached Sam, their voices obstructed by the sound of running water.

“So, what do you think?”

“He seems nice. For a cloaked skeleton.” The older Winchester poured himself a ‘healthy’ dose of brandy. “And the guy’s been enslaved according to Kid.”

“You do feel kinda bad.”

Dean let out a short laugh. “Look at us getting all weepy of a family of Grim Reapers… I couldn’t see a family semblance though,” he added as he remembered the two Reapers interact.

Sam snorted in agreement. “Well. We didn’t learn much, other than that Michael is a jerk.”

“An angel being a dick.” Dean huffed. “Color me surprised.” He took a sip of his drink. “But at least we got Anna on our side too, somehow.”

“Point being?”

“This day could have gone better, Sam. But it also could have gone horribly worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny thing, as I was ‘researching’ Kid’s summoning gesture for his dad, I found out some of these gestures are used in American Sign Language. Putting the tips of the fingers together and forming a triangle means ‘Home’ and the last gesture (the devil’s horns but with the thumb extended) means ‘I love you’. Don’t know if it was intentional or not, but it’s a heartwarming detail :D


	4. In The Halls Of Madness

Once again, in the grand tradition of being with the Winchester brothers, Kid found himself at a motel. The young Grim Reaper had recovered from last week’s time-travelling fatigue by using the sophisticated method of ‘sleeping it off’ and was now ‘settling in’, aka making sure the coast was clear and the two brothers didn’t pull anything suicidal. So far, his self-appointed mission was a success. Dean was off to some random house, and Sam was quietly reading some article on the computer.

A little part of him, which had been considerably quietened after certain events involving the moon and a mad God, pointed out the room was a mess. Kid pointedly ignored it. Dean loudly coming in and slamming the door behind him served as an effective distraction.

“-So, two lovers basically ate each other,” the elder said, as he unbuttoned his jacket, “with all the grisly details included.”

Kid grimaced. The room’s state had now been delegated as a matter of least concern.

Sam looked up and frowned. “You think something was involved?”

Dean shrugged. “No EMF, no sulphur. Demonic possession and Ghost possession are both out.”

“Huh. That’s where I was betting my money.”

Dean flinched, as if remembering a particularly unpleasant memory. “Oh, guys. At the coroner’s-you didn’t see these bodies. I mean these two started eating and they just… kept going. I mean their stomach were full, like Thanksgiving full-”

“We didn’t need that mental image,” the Grim Reaper muttered. “For your information, it would be a lot easier if you let me accompany you in your research. I can sense certain things humans can’t.”

“Hey, our job our rules,” Dean quickly pointed out. “Besides it’d be suspicious, if a kid was tailing FBI agents.”

Kid huffed. “Excuse you, I have excellent negotiation skills that could be useful to your investigations.”

The younger Winchester looked away from his computer to the Grim Reaper. “Useful to what?”

“Well, I once convinced an amphitheater full of witches hell-bent on imposing one million death sentences on me, to cooperate.”

Sam raised his brows, impressed. “Seriously? How’d you do that?”

“I did say at first that I had the ability to kill them all, but did not do so because I’d like to cooperate…”

Sam’s face fell, while Dean’s smile stretched in amusement. “Tough love. And they agreed?”

“Not immediately. After that, I started listing reason on why cooperating would be to their benefit…” The reaper adopted a thoughtful expression. “… Though at one point, I may have accidentally implied I slept with a witch.”

Dean’s eyebrows shot higher than should be physically possible.

Sam did a double-take. “How do you _accidentally_ say you slept with someone?”

“Well, I was making a point that witches are the same as the rest of the human population, and I demonstrated that by saying I’d seen Kim, a witch who was on my team, naked.”

“That’s…” Sam tilted his head and looked at Kid like he’d grown two heads. “How old are you?”

“It was an accident!” Kid protested, while Dean’s laughter intensified.

“ _How_?”

“…I walked into the girl’s shower room.”

Dean, who barely had control over his laughter, managed to let out a hysterical: “W _hy did you go to the girls’ showers_?!”

“She was late! It was an urgent matter, so I went to where she was to convince her to hurry up!”

“ _To the girls’ showers_?”

“Yes! If she were a boy, I’d have gone to the boys’ showers!”

The younger Winchester rubbed his forehead. “…You don’t see the inherent problem in this, do you?”

Kid gave the brother a confused look. Dean kept giggling like a five year old.

Sam shook his head. “Never mind, we’re _not_ having this conversation right now.”

The older Winchester only responded with more laughter. Sam rolled his eyes at the brother’s antics, and focused on his computer. “We should call it a night. Not much more we can do right now.”

“I could walk around the city,” Kid quickly said, doing his best to ignore Dean’s laughter. “Maybe I can sense what’s causing the disturbance.” That, and he also wanted to get away from the room until the shorter hunter got over his giggling fit.

“Don’t do anything stupid or draw attention.”

“And don’t sneak in anyone’s shower-!” Dean teased before dissolving to more laughter.

“Duly noted,” Kid muttered, as he stood up and headed towards the door.

“I’m just gonna go through some files. You go ahead and-” their voices were cut off, as Kid closed the motel’s door and left.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

They were in another small town in the middle-of-nothing as usual. Not that Kid minded, after all Death City was built in the middle of an actual dessert.

Reclining against a wall, Kid breathed in the afternoon air. The sun was setting, bathing the skies in a warm orange glow.

…This town had a strange aura. It was very subtle - Kid hadn’t noticed it at first. Yet now that he was alone, he could feel it in the air. The teen wasn’t sure what it was and he couldn’t exactly describe the feeling. It was something between dread and… proximity?

As was Kid walking through a large office building, he felt something calling to him. Swiftly turning his head, Kid focused on one of the floors. He sensed three souls, two of them in great distress. The feeling was getting more intense.

A gunshot rang out, and the reaper felt a soul pass on.

Oh. So that’s what it was.

The feeling persisted. The two souls left were next.

On cue, two gunshots rang out. One soul moved on; the other one didn’t.

Kid frowned. He’d have to settle it at a later date; maybe when Sam and Dean left for whatever ‘research’ they wanted to conduct. Police was bound to arrive soon and the last thing the Reaper wanted was to be accused of murder, when he wasn’t even a proper ‘citizen’ of the state.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was around evening when Kid came back. Sam was resting at the bed on the verge of sleep, while Dear was watching some soap-opera doctor show with a soda in hand.

“Did you find anything?” the younger brother asked.

“There’s an unsettling presence in this city,” Kid said. “Also there was a murder and two suicides.”

“Geez, you should work at the morning news.” Dean soon broke into another smile. “You didn’t sneak in anyone’s shower, did you?”

“Can you _please_ let this go?”

“Never,” the older hunter responded between laughs. “This is grade A blackmail material.” He even mimicked the motion of a chef being presented with high-end cuisine.

“Ugh, I don’t know why I even bother with you!”

“Because of our dashing good looks and warm hospitality?”

The Grim Reaper gave the older hunter a deadpan look.

“So, uh,” Sam addressed Dean, “you’re just gonna sit here? It’s Valentine’s day today.”

“I don’t know about you two, but I’ll give this place a once over.”

Sam frowned at the Reaper. “Kid, this is a motel room.”

“Which makes it even worse! The service here is unacceptable. I mean the room itself is disorganized, why is the dresser on the northwest side-?” the teen cut himself off, eyes wide.

Sam frowned. “Kid?”

The reaper looked away. “Um… I meant…” he stumbled on his words. “I need some fresh air,” the boy said, and promptly exited the room.

Dean followed the Reaper’s action with a raised eyebrow. “What was _that_ about?”

Sam shrugged before addressing his brother. “So, what’s the deal with you and wanting to stay in on _Valentine’s_ day?”

“…What, is something wrong?”

“It’s when a dog doesn’t eat… that’s when you know something is wrong-”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The moment he walked out, Kid leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. In the back of his mind, the same intrusive thoughts he had for many years banged against his skull. The room was a mess, they claimed. It was disordered, **asymmetrical** -

Kid sharply turned his head and focused his attention elsewhere. His thoughts travelled.

…After the fight with Asura, when the truth about the Kishin’s connection to the Grim Reapers was revealed, Kid had a small falling out with his father. Yeah, they’d all returned safe and victorious, but a lot of ‘secrets’ were laid bare, especially when it came to the Grim Reapers.

It wasn’t even like when they normally fought. Both Grim Reapers were very stubborn individuals; add to that Kid’s occasional streak of teenage rebellion, and the two had had their fair share of fights. In most cases it was about hilariously domestic matters, like that one time it had miraculously snowed in Death City. Kid, having never seen snow before, wanted to rush straight out into the streets. Death had insisted Kid wear at least six layers of clothing, much like a Balkan mother going on about the dangers of ‘air drafts’. The argument escalated, Death ended up accidentally using his ‘scary voice’ and Kid stood his ground, far too used to his father’s antics.

Their arguments also had the unintended effect of causing a storm upon Death City. Such occupancies happened enough times to have their own nickname: ‘Reaper Storms.’ Still, it was a blessing in disguise, as Death City got little rain.

Really, the only victim in such occasions was Spirit. The poor human could nothing but try and placate the two Death Gods, which was like trying to make a hole in water. So in most cases, he found a relatively safe corner, magazines in tow and tried to ignore the aura of dread inadvertently emitted from the two upset Grim Reapers.

Instead, things had been… icy. Kid still loved his dad, but if he’d have to put it into words he didn’t… look up to him as much as he did. Finding out your Father is –inadvertently or not- the cause for the Earth almost going stark-raving mad does that for someone’s standing.

Asura… Asura had ended up stark raving mad because he had allowed his fears and obsessions to take control. Kid was nothing short of horrified when he made the connection with Asura’s obsession on fear and his own obsession on order and Symmetry. To be honest, it had all started at the whole Book of Eibon fiasco. The Old One he’s come across at the deep forbidden passages of the Book… The experience had caused Kid to re-evaluate a lot of his behavior.

The young reaper was improving though. Even before, he had managed to wear the Spartoi’s logo on one arm, and the Lines were bothering him less and less every day. Unless someone specifically pointed out to something being asymmetrical -which thankfully, his friends didn’t- Kid remained relatively compulsion-free.

But now, why were the thoughts returning? He remembered reading that the behaviors usually resurfaced after intense stress. And with his father as a prisoner to actual Satan, and him having to fend off what was basically Hell with two humans and a rogue angel, Kid felt like he was the personification of a stress-ball, rather than the end of life. It wasn’t a surprise he was falling back on old habits.

‘I don't feel that I have the need to symmetrically rearrange the furniture. I'm having a compulsive urge to perform the compulsion of symmetrically rearranging the furniture.’

He kept repeating the above like a mantra.

Later at night, a calmer Kid made it into the dark motel room. Without bothering to turn on the lights, the boy plopped on the unoccupied bed, where sleep claimed him.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Well…” came Dean’s grumbling voice. “Sam, wake up. We have another case.”

The younger Winchester let out an annoyed growl as he pushed himself off the bed, and went towards the bathroom. From the corner of his eye Dean noticed the Reaper perk up from his resting place.

“No Kid, you can’t come. It’s FBI time.”

“I could always sneak in and meet you.”

“Don’t-” Dean begun, but the Reaper cut him off.

“At least make sure you look the part. Your suits have asymmetrical wrinkles on them. The room is also a mess.”

“Yes, mother, whatever. We’re leaving, don’t do anything stupid,” Dean said, as he and Sam exited the room.

The young Grim Reaper rolled his eyes at Dean’s remark, but nevertheless stayed down. He looked around at his surroundings. The room was quiet enough; it was still early morning, so many of the people were sleeping. Kid could sense some of the souls nearby who were deep in slumber.

Still, he had to find a way to spend his time. Maybe he could clean this place a bit; the dresser was still placed asymmetrically-

The boy stood up and looked away. Dammit, this room was doing him no good. Going near the window, he saw Sam and Dean heading off.

Well, they didn’t explicitly forbid him from coming.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Oh, no.” Sam murmured, looking inside a container. They were at the local clinic, searching for more clues.

“What?” Dean said as he looked up to his brither.

“I think it’s Enochian,”

“You mean it’s angel scratches?”

“Sam is correct-” An unknown voice said.

“Motherf-!” Dean jumped in place, as he whipped around to see the intruder. The hunter somewhat relaxed when he saw it was their resident Grim Reaper. “What the hell, Kid?!”

“How did you get here?!” Sam asked, equally surprised.

“I snuck it. It was hardly difficult,” the boy responded, nonplused.

“We specifically told you not to!” Dean protested.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not bound by your orders.” He looked at the table’s contents. “Why do you have a frozen heart on the table anyways?”

“It’s from one of the ‘victims’. We’re trying to find if there’s anything unusual…” Sam begun.

“Oh. I’m pretty sure human hearts aren’t supposed to be tagged.”

“You’re a regular brainiac,” Dean remarked.

“Now about those markings…” Kid took the plastic container closer to him and inspected the heart.

“They are Enochian,” Sam explained.

“You mean like the tagging in our ribs?”

Kid did a double-take. “Your ribs are what?”

“Long story.”

Kid’s frown made it clear this wasn’t a proper answer. “…Alright. Anyways, the markings don’t correspond to a letter, or a word. They resemble tag marks; though I’m not sure what they’re meant to represent.”

“Should we call the Angel Squad?”

“Go ahead.”

 “Get Anna too?” Sam said a little worried

“We’re here,” a female voice came from the brothers’ back, as they both jumped. Behind the, both angels stood perfectly still, yet there was one detail that was off.

Sam took a deep breath, which might have been a bit strained. “Why do you have a cat?”

“Oh? I like them,” Anna said while she absentmindedly petted the kitty. “Poor thing was outside the building all alone.”

“It has a collar.”

“So?” The female angel looked up at the younger brother, confused.

Sam turned to Dean for support.

The older Winchester raised his hands in defense. “I have a strict policy of not dealing with cat ladies. Anyway, mind giving a look at that heart Cas? Something about it is off.”

The make angel frowned as he grabbed affirm hold of the dead organ. “These were cupid marks,” Castiel spoke up, after giving the frozen heart a comprehensive inspection. “They are used by cupids to identify soul mates.” Upon seeing the clueless faces of the two humans and Grim Reaper, Castiel explained, “cupids use these when they make two people fall in love. To do so however, they must be close to their target.”

“Oh, that explains it,” Kid muttered distractedly.

“Explains what?”

“We occasionally get some low-level angels trying to break into the city. Father and I usually chase them off.”

Anna looked horrified. “You _hunt_ cupids?”

For a moment, Dean got the mental image of Kid and that shadowy-thing that was Death, chasing angelic baby-like cupids with broomsticks.

Kid, ignoring Dean’s sudden joyful expression, turned to Anna. “What, no-! We chase them off. They keep coming in and trying to cause chaos.”

“They’re _cupids_ ,” Sam said, indignantly.

“They’re _troublemakers_ and _trespassers_.” The young Grim Reaper crossed his arms. “Why shouldn’t we kick them off?”

Dean opened his mouth in protest, but found himself with no argument. “…You know what, I’m not gonna argue with you on that. Let’s just get back on the issue at hand.”

As their conversation continued, Kid couldn’t help but notice how messy and asym- _disorganised_ the room was. Better focus his thoughts on something else.

The people here were the ones who committed the homicide and suicides last night. In that last instance, a soul hadn’t passed on. Using his Soul Perception, he found no soul that hadn’t moved on. It was strange; the incident before was definitely a homicide. The bodies should have been brought to this building, and so should any lingering souls, as they were still bonded with the body.

…Maybe the soul naturally passed on and he was stressing over nothing. Again.

“A cupid has gone rogue,” Castiel’s voice eventually caused Kid to focus on the conversation. “That would explain why people with tag-marks are killing one another.”

Kid looked hesitant. “The aura I felt… doesn’t really resemble a cupid.”

“It’s a starting point. He could be one of the baddie’s lackeys,” Sam offered.

“Right,” Dean said before turning to Castiel. “So Cas… where do we find a cupid?”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was a few hours later that the motley crew of humans and supernaturals found themselves in a crowded restaurant, trying to fit into a table intended for three people.

“Next time Dean, I’m making the reservations,” Sam grumbled. His big frame contrasted to the others’, making him stand out in the crowd. The fact that he was being squished at all sides did little to improve matters. “And where’s Anna?”

“She’s… petting cats.” Castiel absent-mindedly said, as he browsed through the menu. “I’d like to get a hamburger.”

“I’m sorry, can you just-?” Kid reached out, and placed the decorative vase right in the middle, then rearranged the glasses.

“…Right,” Sam muttered, before turning to Castiel. “So, how do we find the cupid?” He grimaced. “We don’t have to flirt with people, do we? I hope we look inconspicuous…”

“Sam, we’re three lonely dudes and a kid. We can’t give off any more bachelor vibes even if we tried,” Dean joked.

“Wait,” the angel said, as he looked at one end of the restaurant. “Do you sense that?”

Sam and Dean exchanged confused looks.

The Grim Reaper looked where the angel pointed. “Is that a cupid’s soul?”

“We got one already?” Dean said, looking around. Sam copied his gesture, though he was aware at a subconscious level that he couldn’t sense souls.

Kid frowned. “It… doesn’t feel threatening.”

“Whatever, someone call the cat lady,” Dean quickly said. “We’re going cupid-hunting.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Turns out, to summon a cupid you just had to be at their approximate location and then just say the equivalent of ‘Hey, let’s meet up and have a fun time ;)’

“Zoda koma Mahara. Manifest yourself.” Castiel of course, had opted for the more modest approach.

There was about of silence.

“Ok…?” Sam said in confusion. “Where’s the Cupid?”

Kid’s eyes widened. “Dean, behind you-!”

_“Hello, you!”_

Dean was the Cupid’s first victim.

_“And you!”_

Next on the list was Castiel. The angel had a resigned look, as If he had already accepted his fate.

_“And look at you!”_

Followed by Sam.

“ _And the lady of course!”_

Anna, who had appeared shortly before the chant, tried -key word being tried- to make a beeline for the exit, but was caught up in the Cupid’s trap.

_“And the little kid!”_

Kid put up his hands and took a step back. “Ah, no, no, sir-”

The young Grim Reaper was engulfed by over 100 pounds of naked angel mass. Being shorter because of his age, Kid’s head barely reached above the Cupid’s chest, giving him a very comprehensive feel of the minor angel’s anatomy.

And then the angel lifted him up, revealing the Grim Reaper’s flustered face and disheveled hair. “Help.”

“Is this a fight- are we in a fight?” Dean said in alarm.

“This is…” Castiel started, both looking to where the young Grim Reaper was bodily lifted in a bear crushing hug. “Their handshake.”

“I don’t like it,” Dean said.

“No one likes it.”

Eventually, the Grim Reaper was let go. Kid scuttled behind the brothers’ frame. “Do you get why we chase them off now?”

“Should someone go talk to him?” Sam said, as Dean gave Kid an empathetic look.

“I lack social skills. Castiel should go talk to his kin-”

The angel gave the Grim Reaper a betrayed look.

“Good idea,” Dean immediately said, patting the angel on the back, and giving him an encouraging push. “Give him hell, Cas.”

Turns out, Castiel was terrible at giving hell, and just as bad as being subtle. Dean tried to intervene, but then it soon turned into a heated discussion about fate.

I mean, it was bound to happen at this point. Kid didn’t know much about angels, but he did notice their focus on ‘destiny’ and all that yadda.

Sigh. If only the Universe was this organized.

Oh, dear, Dean punched the cupid. The way things were going this might turn out to be a homicidal messenger of love, and turn the older hunter into a shish kebab with his arrows.

In a nice, and non-aneurism-inducing turn of events, the cupid didn’t impale Dean with his bows like an Orthodox Christian does to a lamb on Easter. Problem was the Cupid took Dean’s worlds and actions to heart, and had now gone off to literally God-knows-where.

There was another period of silence.

“…I’m going to go back to the cats,” Anna said and promptly vanished.

“Dean, you also seem to lack social skills.”

“Shut up Kid, at least I don’t walk into people when they shower-”

“This is ridiculous,” Sam quickly spoke up, just in time to quell the Grim Reaper’s incoming mini-rant.  “Castiel’s eating hamburgers all day, Kid’s naggier than usual, Anna has turned into an old cat-lady and you are not acting your normal self.”

Dean opened his mouth to retort, but found that nothing came to him. “…I blame the Cupid,” he eventually said.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Tomorrow morning, Sam went out to the coroner’s again, while Dean did a brief visit to the police station. Initially, Kid wanted to follow, but… he noticed the state of the room. I mean it wouldn’t hurt to clean things up just a bit, maybe move the bed in a more symmetrical fashion-

Goddamnit. It wasn’t normal for his obsession to take hold so unexpectedly. Something was behind this. Something…

Whatever it was, the beds still got re-arranged.

Just when Kid was thinking of asking the motel owner’s permission to knock down a wall in order to make the room more symmetrical, Sam and Dean entered through the door, suitcase in hand. What Kid sensed was in the suitcase promptly shut down any thought he had on symmetry, and all thoughts in general.

The Grim Reaper stared at the briefcase, as if bewitched. “Sam, Dean.” His wavering calm voice was a warning sign on its own. “Where did you find this suitcase?”

“A demon was carrying it,” the older hunter said, frowning at Kid’s behavior. “We don’t know what’s in it.”

“I do. Put it down. _Carefully_ ,” he breathlessly said, stressing the last part, while still staring at the suitcase.

A wide-eyed Sam gave Dean a look, before placing down the package with care, as if it was carrying a volatile atomic bomb.

“Kid, you’re freaking me the hell out,” the older Winchester said.

“Good, so you know what I feel right now,” the boy muttered.

“What’s in there?”

“A soul,” Kid said, still transfixed on the suitcase.

Dean’s eyebrows rose higher, as Sam blinked in confusion.

“We have to open it…” the Grim Reaper muttered, as he slowly walked towards the briefcase. Both hunters took a tentative step back, exchanging weary glances.

Kid kneeled down at the suitcase, and gently grasped it. Taking a deep breath, he unclasped the ends and opened it.

A bright light forced Sam and Dean to close their eyes, yet Kid didn’t even flinch. The Grim Reaper slowly reached out for the soul, gently grasping it. He brought the bright blue orb close to his chest. Kid closed his eyes, as he muttered a few unrecognizable words, then the soul vanished, leaving behind a blue mist that soon disappeared too.

“It is done,” the Grim Reaper whispered, as he put a hand to his chest, frame visibly relaxing.

“What?” Dean eventually said. “What did you do?”

Kid gave him an oblivious look, as if the older brother asked why water is wet. “I put the soul to rest.”

“How- No, wait, don’t answer. Grim Reaper, of course. Just when I was staring… forget about it,” Dean mumbled.

“What’s going on?” Sam said, renewing Dean’s failed tirade. “Why is there a soul inside a suitcase, it doesn’t make sense-”

“It does, actually. Make sense, I mean,” Castiel muttered. As always, he appeared out of nowhere, but now with a bag of hamburgers in hand.

“Now what about that makes sense?” Dean pointed to the young Reaper, who was distractedly looking at a nearby unorganized coffee table.

“Where’s Anna?” Sam asked, confusion written all over his face. “When did _you_ start eating?”

“Exactly. My hunger- it’s a clue, actually.”

“For what?” Sam asked, not satisfied with the angel’s cryptic answer.

“Kid was right. This town isn’t suffering from a rogue cupid, it’s something more sinister,” Castiel said after taking another bite of his hamburger. “It’s suffering from hunger, starvation, to be exact. Specifically, Famine.”

“Famine?” Dean spoke up.

The angel nodded.

“A-As in…” Sam stuttered, “the Horseman?”

Castiel nodded again. “Oh, and Anna went to a pound, to pet all the cats. Again,” he added. “I forgot to tell you that.”

“Great! That’s... that’s freaking great,” Dean shot, his tone somewhere between frustration and fear.

“No, it isn’t,” Castiel deadpanned.

“That’s sarcasm, you pillow-stuffing-”

Sam turned to Dean, an incredulous expression on his face. “ _Pillow-stuffing?”_

“Look, I’m running out of insults, ok?”

“That’s uncharacteristic of you-”

“Why am I pillow-stuffing?” Castiel contemplated before looking up at Sam. “Is it the feathers?”

“Whatever, what would Famine need the souls for?” Sam asked, hands on hips.

“Power,” Kid muttered.

“What now?” Dean looked confusedly between the angel and Grim Reaper.

“Souls are more powerful than you assume. Because of that power there are many who go after souls, human or not. The thing is…” Sam and Dean saw the Kid’s frame shake from anger. “To gains a soul’s power you have to eat it.”

“So the killings…” Sam said in hesitation.

“They’re just the appetizers,” Castiel completed ominously.

“Disgusting…” Kid’s hands were clenched into fists.

“So Famine just waltzed into a town, everyone goes crazy, and he eats their souls,” Dean said, rubbing his forehead.

“I’m afraid that’s the plan,” the angel added, looking away.

Kid had to sit down. The whole world was blurring. Everything was disorderly, asymmetrical. Dean’s left eyebrow was slightly longer than his left. One of the stitches on Sam’s right sleeve was slightly torn. Castiel’s long coat was a bit longer on the right than on the left side.

Everything was asymmetrical.

Kid forced his eyes closed. It would do no good for him to succumb to his Madness. His experience with the Black Mass taught him so.

The brothers’ voices sounded dull, as if he was hearing them through a pane of glass, “…so we cut off the ring?” Sam offered.

“That should stop him.” Dean agreed.

“Will it?” came Sam’s voice. “Kid?”

“What?” the Grim Reaper said confusedly.

“Oi, focus,” Dean said. “If we get Famine’s ring, would that stop him?”

The Reaper frowned. “That’s… that’s not how it works. You have to cut off the source.”

“It worked last time, when we were facing War.”

“Yes, it seems the rings hold the power, but…” Castiel turned to Kid. “Death doesn’t wear a ring, does he?”

Kid gave him a deadpan look. “Do Father’s fingers look like they could even accommodate a ring?”

“You do.” Dean pointed out.

Kid looked down. “Oh, you mean those?” He brought up his hands, where there were two identical skull rings on his middle fingers. “They’re accessories.” To demonstrate his point, Kid removed them both. “They’re not connected to my power.”

“Who the hell wears matching rings?”

Kid huffed. “Well, _I_ like them.”

“Well, you’re weird.”

“Oh, wow, your scathing remark skills have clearly taken a turn for the worse.”

“Oh shut up, let’s go gank Famine already.”

“Dean,” a nervous Sam spoke up. “I can’t come with you.”

“Why not?”

“The blood, Dean…” the younger Winchester visibly gulped. “It’s affecting me.”

Dean’s eyes widened.

“The what now?” Kid asked in confusion.

“Um, Sam was… a demon blood junkie, back in the day.” Dean pointed out, before immediately adding: “He went into rehab, totally clean now.”

Kid took a sharp breath. “We need to talk about this, because there are many implications and they do not bode well.”

“How about we do that when we don’t have a Horseman waltzing around the town?” Sam shot back, annoyed.

“...Right…”

“Hello,” came a female voice, as Anna appeared. “Has Castiel caught you up on Famine?

Dean turned to Sam. “Anna stays with you.”

“What?!” Sam asked, alarmed.

“In case demons come after you,” the older brother quickly said. “Last thing I want is you chained, while two demons beat the living crap out of you.”

“Oh…ok,” Sam said, as he processed his brother’s words. “Makes sense…. I guess.”

“And Anna,” Dean turned to the female angel, with fire in his eyes. “You hurt Sam and I will make you suffer. Castiel is on my side and I got a Grim Reaper I can sic on you.”

“I’m not a dog-” Kid protested in the background. Anna however, took the threat to heart, and gave the elder a terrified look.

“Oh, but there’s more. There’s nowhere you can hide.” The older Winchester gave her a predatory smirk. “Kid isn’t afraid of sneaking into the ladies’ showers.”

“Dean, I swear to all that is symmetrical-!”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Soon after that, they’d come up with a plan. Dean, Castiel and Kid would find one of the demon carrying souls and follow them to their destination. Kid had vehemently protested at the mere idea of using the soul as bait, but was outvoted.

This was why they were now stalking the coroner’s office at late afternoon. Dean bit his lip, while looking around his surroundings; Kid had a permanent scowl on his face. As for Castiel, the angel had brought a ‘couple’ i.e. a super-sized bag of hamburgers, and was going through them like a child first eating cookies.

“The soul, it is moved,” Kid muttered.

They saw a man dressed in black exit the building, suitcase in hand. There was a whooshing sound and Castiel was gone.

The young Reaper let out a low growl.

Dean arched an eyebrow. “Easy, boy. Don’t bite him yet.”

“I feel more inclined to rip his hands off,” Kid growled in complete sincerity.

“…You’re really not cool with what’s going on, are you?”

“I’m a Grim Reaper. Souls are our responsibility, and the very thought of messing with them makes my blood boil.”

“Huh? So like a bull and the color red?”

Kid didn’t respond, his gaze focused on the demon going inside a fancy black car.

The three followed the demon to a family dinner. The atmosphere was heavy, and night came quicker than it should have. What was worrying was that Castiel had teleported into the restaurant, planning to do a brief recon and report his findings. Problem was, it’d been several minutes, and the angel was nowhere in sight.

“How are things with your soul-seeing… thingy?”

“Soul Perception,” Kid nonchalantly corrected him. “Something’s off. It is probably due to the Horseman’s presence.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s… muddled.” Kid narrowed his eyes. “Like there is a fog. I can detect Castiel’s soul, but not Famine’s.”

It was strange. The Grim Reaper hadn’t encountered such a phenomenon before. Usually, his Soul Perception was crystal clear when he focused –normally it was more like a faint after-image he paid little attention too. To have it blurry like this… there was something up. Perhaps an obfuscation Soul Wavelength?

Unless… he was approaching the problem the wrong way. What if it was an unintentional side-effect? It didn’t seem like Lucifer was aware of the younger Reaper’s existence, much less that he had teamed up with the Winchesters. And that blurry brown hue reminded him of a familiar bright yellow hue he was all too used to seeing.

Maybe the fog was the soul he was trying so hard to find…

The Reaper arched his head up. Dean copied the movement in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Kid gulped. His theory was confirmed.

Famine’s soul was large, way bigger than that of a normal human’s, or even an angel’s. It was a dark grey color, almost black, which made it difficult to determine exactly how big it was in nighttime. Still, it was at least one city block wide and about ten stories tall.

“You’re not answering me, should I be worried?”

It wasn’t just that though. There was something… else. Something Kid hadn’t encountered in a soul before.

Famine’s soul was very transparent, nearly translucent. The Soul Wavelength he detected was almost untraceable as well, nothing compared to Asura’s metaphorical tsunamis of Madness.

“Kid?”

Was it a quality of the Horseman’s souls? It didn’t make sense; his Father –and Kid by a technicality- were Horsemen, yet their souls were a prominent yellow color. So, was there something else at play? If so, then what?

“ _Kid?_ ”

…Was it bound?

“ _Hey, Kid!_ ”

Dean’s urgent tone broke him away from his thought. “Huh, what?”

“Cas, Famine, the demons, can you see anything?”

“I, well,” The Grim Reaper said, refocusing his Soul Perception on the rest of the building. “Famine and a bunch of demons are in the building… and the angel…” his eyes widened. “Oh no.”

“Last thing I wanted to hear,” Dean muttered. “What’s wrong?”

“Castiel is inside as well, but he’s… stationary. He is not engaging.”

“Crap… time for us to get rolling.”

“Wait, it could be dangerous-!”

“Could?” It is dangerous and stupid. But we gotta do something… I’m going in,” Dean said, picking up his gun.

Kid opened the door immediately after. “You’re not going there alone and I’m not going to stay out of this.”

The two briskly exited the car and headed towards the restaurant. Dean’s shoulders were tense, while Kid nervously looked at their surroundings.

When they made it into the restaurant, it was dark. The lights were out, and the overwhelming stench –to Dean’s senses at least- of death lingered in the air.

“Awesome…”  Dean muttered in a mix of sarcasm and horror, as they walked through the diner. They’d entered through the back, hoping to catch whatever was lurking at the front unaware. After seeing a man whose half upper body was submerged in the deep firer, Dean wasn’t so sure he’d like to face what was lurking beyond.  

“Dean…” Kid whispered, directing the human’s gaze to a corner at the front entrance of the restaurant. To their surprise, Castiel was in the middle of the room, eating a box of raw meat. The angel didn’t react to their presence.

“Cas…? Cas…” called Dean, approaching the angel with Kid just behind him. The angel kept eating, and Dean’s calls were getting more frantic…

“Welcome,” said weak voice that took them both by surprise. Turning around, their eyes widened at the unexpected sight in front of them.

Before them was a frail-looking old man. His frame was skinny and sickly, wrinkles marring every exposed flash. His hair was shite and falling, and a breathing tube was connected to the back of the old man’s wheelchair. Dean may have frowned at the Horseman’s unexpected appearance, but Kid was now at full alert. The Reaper could feel the Madness oozing from the weakly form. It wasn’t as intense as Asura, but it was getting difficult to keep a clear head…

“Ah,” the man sighed in a mockingly happy tone, “a reaper… it’s been so long since I had one of your kind’s souls…”

“You’re the one,” Kid let out.

“What?” Dean blurted.

“The one whose Madness has been affecting me since we arrived in this city…”

“My dear boy,” Famine said in a raspy voice matching his pathetic form. “I’ve been affecting everyone.”

“That’s… even worse…”

The old man let out a gruff laugh.

Dean looked between the two. He knew stopping the old man was the only way to save everyone in the city, to save Sam from getting addicted to demons’ blood again, but the demon bodyguards were going to be a pain. Taking advantage that the enemy still looking at Kid, the older hunter started his exorcism chant.

The effect was instantaneous; all demons locked on to Dean, eyes blackening. With a combined battle cry, they lunged at the hunter in a desperate attempt of preventing the journey back to Hell that awaited them.

Thankfully, the Grim Reaper was faster.

The teen moved in front of Dean just in time to stop an incoming punch. The blow hurt, and Kid would be surprised if his arm’s bone hadn’t at least suffered a fracture.

“Move!” the bigger of the demons hissed, as he brought his fist back for another punch. Already, sweat was lining their brow; they were feeling the exorcism’s effects. Another demon came close to Kid, as it attempted to tackle the hunter.

“No, you _don´t_!” Kid hissed, dodging the punch and grabbing the second demon’s arms. As he twisted both appendages, low kick sent the hellish creature to the ground and another kick, this time to the demon´s face, stopped him from getting up.

The boy now brought his attention to the first demon who attacked him. The possessed human was still standing. Time to amend that.

Cursing loudly, the demon lunged at the Reaper. Kid moved to his left, evading the attack; it was for a second, but that failed move caused an opening, allowing Kid to go after the demon´s legs with a circular kick, making his opponent fall. A hammer punch to his neck made sure they’d stay down, and the demon’s unconscious body hit the floor hard.

The chanting continued, and the demons no longer cared about safety; their aim was stopping the exorcism at all costs. Kid barely had a second to check his surroundings before more demons ganged up on him. The Reaper tried to fight back, but just when he thought he had defeated one, another sneaked up on him. He had a difficult time stopping punches, blocking kicks, and generally trying to remain in one piece.

Dean, gun in hand, tried to take aim, but didn’t fire. Both parties were too close to another and moved way too unpredictably for the hunter to get a clear shot.

A different gun was fired.

Dean, thank his lucky stars –or more likely, entire constellation- instinctively dodged, the bullet missing his left arm by a margin.

The gun-wielding demon did not relent though, and kept firing at the human.

“Shit!” The hunter fell to the ground just in time to prevent a fatal wound, but his exorcism was interrupted. Dean looked up to see the gun-toting demon preparing to fire again; the hunter quickly kicked a near table, and took guard behind it.

“Dean…!” waned Kid, while he was locked in an arms contest with a demon whose body was as wide as a wardrobe. The distraction proved to be crucial, as a kick from his opponent sent Kid back and on his knees, as the air was knocked out of him.

“Augh,” the Reaper coughed, as he looked up to see demons surround him. “Fuck me.”

“Kid!” Dean yelled, yet his voice was muted by gunshots, as if the gun-toting demon was trying to turn the table Dean was hiding in into its Swish Cheese version. Faintly, the older Winchester could hear the sounds of battle not far away from him; what was worrying was that Kid’s voice was the one in pain.

This was going catastrophically bad. The only thing the hunter could now hear were the bullets flying above his head, making his ears buzz. A part of Dean´s brain that wasn’t busy trying to find a way out, or mentally cursing at any and all Higher Entities, felt guilty for letting Kid fought alone.

Meanwhile, a few meters away, Kid was thrown into a table, breaking it in half. The unsettling part came when he fell into one of the corpses scattering the place. This one belonged to a plump woman, and had Kid been less stressed about fighting against a Horseman, he might have checked if her soul had properly passed on. More likely than not, it hadn’t.

Nevertheless, the Reaper managed to get up despite his wounds. His lip was torn, and his whole body felt bruised. There might have also been some internal hemorrhaging, but it didn’t feel life-threatening.

Good, that meant he wouldn’t have much to heal.

One of the demons loomed above him, gun aimed at the Reaper’s head. He seemed to temporarily bask in his accomplishment of taking down a Grim Reaper.

Kid’s lips stretched into a grin. Suckers.

Bullets flying above him, Kid dived into the demon hoard. He kicked a demon to his left out of balance, then punched up to the demon holding the gun, causing the man to drop it. Bending his arm at the elbow, Kid swung it to the right, catching another demon on the neck.

Another demon grabbed a nearby knife and swung at Kid. The Reaper stopped him by grabbing his wrist, before the blade could research his skin, using his second hand as extra leverage. The demon copied the teen’s movements, and it quickly became a battle of strength.

Meanwhile, more demons had gathered around the action and were ready to attack. Fantastic…

With a yell, Kid freed one of his arms to clutch the cloth at the demon’s side. The knife missed its target by a few centimeters, allowing Kid to briefly lift the demon and throw him at his kin.

…If this was a cartoon, then the whole action would be obscured by a smoke cloud.

A bullet got him right between the shoulder blades. Goddammit, there was a third gunman.

Dean´s head appeared from the table´s edge. “You still kicking, Kid?!”

“Keep saying the exorcism, dammit!” the teen urged, while another demon attacked him from the right. Dean made a grimace when the Reaper grabbed the attacking demon’s hand and body slammed him, but continued his chanting.

Alright, time to get the bastard that shot him.

Kid looked behind his now-unconscious ex-attacker to find out the armed demon of the hour. He walked briskly at him, every inch of his body betraying the levels of frustration only a nigh-immortal being could experience, and the demon actually took a step back.

That sensible state of mind didn’t last long though, as the demon raised his gun and fired straight at Kid.

The Grim Reaper took in stride. He didn’t even look bothered by his now bleeding arm. Good thing the grunts had the aim of a Storm trooper.

The demon froze. His resolve faltered.

A second later, one of the demon’s comrades was minus a bat and plus a devastating kick to his solar plexus. The creature growled in pain, slumping as he clutched his stomach area, while Kid continued unbothered at the gun-wielding demon, with bat in hand.

There was something about your opponent briskly walking towards you like a slow homing missile that unnerved the demon. The dreaded aura surrounding the diner did little to boost his rational skills, and the demon tried to use his supernatural powers to intimidate the mere child who dared face him, little-duckling-Reaper or not-!

Something much greater pushed back. Wait, but his boss had said he was just a reaper-!

The demon didn’t get to finish his line of thought, as Kid swung –and broke- the bat at the demon’s hands. Kid made a quick move, grabbing the demon´s arm from the already-broken wrist, and twisting it further.

The possessed human howled in pain as he fell to the floor, the broken bat now laying discarded to the side.

The demon cried in pain.

It was just in time too. Dean had just uttered the last word of the exorcism chant. As their burrowed bodies spasmed in shock, black mist exited the possessed human’s through their face’s orifices, gathering into a thick mist-like structure on the ground.

**“Enough!”**

Both human and Reaper were thrown into a nearby wall. Dean hit the wall with is back, while Kid did so with his side. Both grunted in pain; Dean from the blunt trauma and Kid from the aggravated bullet wounds that hadn’t yet healed.

“…At least we got those demon bastards,” Dean muttered, coughing out blood. The older hunter watched with sadistic glee as the black mist symbolizing the demons’ souls twisted and twitched on the floor, right as the portal of hell opened to take them back to their eternal prison.

There was a deafening crack as a black substance covered the demonic opening and the Hell Portal collapsed into itself.

“Wait, what?!” Dean yelled. That wasn’t supposed to happen, you couldn’t just close a one-way portal to Hell just like that-!

“…I’m… Hungry…” the Horseman muttered. Besides an outstretched index finger, he hadn’t moved at all. Even during the battle, he seemed disinterest at best, and impatient at worst. “The demons… they’re useless, as always…” His index swayed in cyclical motions, as if copying the movement of the demonic souls… or maybe the souls copied his motion. “Might as well…” the finger froze, and the souls followed suit, “…have them.”

The Grim Reaper’s eyes widened. “Oh no…” Kid muttered, as he stood up, ignoring the lurching pain at his side. “No, _no, NO_!”

He was too late. Famine gestured towards his moth and the souls now swirled upwards, forming a hurricane-like structure. The gathered and bunched up, before the ends of the spiral headed into Famine’s moth; the Horseman gesturing to it.

It took less than five seconds and over ten demon souls were eaten.

Kid would have been disgusted, if he wasn’t simultaneously a bit horrified by such an act of power.

“No, stop it!” The Grim Reaper wasn’t sure why he said that. Maybe it was an unconscious reflex from seeing such an appalling action.

“I am afraid I cannot do that. I’m… Hungry. Aren’t you…?” The atmosphere around them grew thicker. Dean started choking in pure air. Somewhere, deep in the hunter’s soul, he felt an… emptiness.

Kid’s low laugh broke the hunter out of his delirium. “…You’re not the first one who’s tried this, old man.”

“A reaper having experienced Madness? Why, I’d say that’s…” Famine’s words died in his mouth. “Oh.”

“So you finally used your Soul Perception,” the boy drawled. His voice didn’t sound right.

“An incomplete Grim Reaper… who is not Asura…”

The pressure on Kid’s chest quadrupled. The Grim Reaper had to give it his all not to fall to his knees.

“Still… very incomplete…”

“You soul-eating abomination,” Kid shot back with disgust.

The Grim Reaper felt raw power run through his being, as something white glowed from the top of his vision. Dark energy surrounded his being, shadowy-like skulls forming and dissolving almost instantly.

Famine stood up. “If you think you can defeat me, then I am afraid you are overestimating your power. Even bound and weakened, I am still stronger than a mere fragm-!”

The Horseman’ sentence was cut short, as Famine was flung towards the opposite wall. The supernatural being let out a cry of anger and pain. The dreaded aura emitted from his being thickened, greatly intensifying in volume. Dean started choking again; Castiel had fainted not long ago.

“ _Your symmetry is off_.”

“Huh?”

“Your hair… the hairs are longer in the left side than the right… your right shoe is half a centimeter larger than your left one…”

At the same time Kid felt something thick emerge from the bottom half of his face, as if trying to stitch his mouth shut.

No, wait, this wasn’t supposed to be happening, _not now, not ever-!_

The Reaper’s brief inner turmoil gave the Horseman enough of an opening to outstretch his arm and flung Kid towards the opposite side of the store, crashing through one of the counters. Kid coughed and attempted to sit up, but he found himself being dragged by the Horseman’s manifestation of his wavelength, as a thick tendril wrapped tightly around his throat.

Kid choked in annoyance, as he brought his hands at the restrains, and dug his nails through it. Dark cackling energy gathered at the Reaper’s fingertips, as the room became darker and the shadows turned alive. Shadows fought shadows, skulls clashing against amorphous tendrils.

...This was no use. Famine might be weak, but Kid’s distracted mind was too great of an advantage to the Horseman. They were going to lose, if he didn’t come up something, soon…

“Famine!”

In retrospect, Sam´s voice coming through the front door was not something Kid had accounted for.

The younger Winchester appeared in the entrance. His mouth was bloody, and his clothes were torn. The murderous look he was giving Famine didn’t help either.

“Sam…” Famine pleasantly said. It was like syrup laced with arsenic. “You did take the gift I gave you…” the Horseman said, as he focused on the blood at the human’s moth. “Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the rest of your presents…”

“I want to talk.”

Unbeknownst to them, Anna appeared from behind the counter, having taken the back door. Dean, too confused at everything that was going on, still was conscious enough to give her a wide eyed look. Then again, that may have been because the female angel was clutching three kittens in her lap.

One of the kittens happily mewled. Famine turned around, distracted.

Which was just what Sam was planning for, judging from him pulling out Ruby’s knife and lunging at the unfocused Horseman. Famine might have had time to react, had Kid not also lunged at him to hold him still, while Dean followed his instinct and shot at the Horseman.

With a swing of the knife, the Horseman’s entire hand flew off. Famine let out an unnaturally shrill scream, inhumanely high-pitched, as he clutched his hurt limb. His form started to waver, dissolving into a black mist. Judging from his screams, it was quite painful.

The last thing the humans and supernaturals saw were two sickly, but focused eyes glaring at them.

The shadows dissolved into nothingness.

There was an intense moment of silence, where they all stood still. Sam was breathing heavily, clutching the now blood-stained knife. Kid was grasping at thin air, while Dean’s gun was still pointed to where Famine was a few seconds ago. Castiel’s unconscious form was starting to move, while Anna looked nervously round, now seemingly aware of the ridiculous amount of felines she had on her person.

“D-Did...” Sam eventually stuttered. “Did one of our plans just work?”

“Shit just went from scary to freaky, what the fuck…” Dean said, before turning to the rest of the group. “Everyone alright?”

“I feel bloated,” Castiel burped.

“…Maybe I shouldn’t have brought all these kitties with me,” Anna admitted.

Kid stayed silent.

“Sam-?” Dean’s question was cut short when he saw the blood on the younger Winchester’s mouth. “Oh no…”

“It’s not what it looks like!”

“Sam, you have blood-!”

“That’s mine,” Anna spoke up.

Dean looked incredulously between the two. “Oh good, so you switched to angel blood now, fantastic-!”

“It’s a distraction!” Sam quickly said. “I wanted to fool Famine into thinking he had won, to throw him off-balance, so Anna could attack him.”

“That’s true,” the female angel said. “Sam was attacked by demons. I used the element of surprise to take them out, and Sam said it must have been a trap.”

“So Famine wanted you to drink the demon blood? Why? That’d just give you power-” Dean started.

“I think that may have been related to the fact that Sam is Lucifer’s perfect vessel,” Castiel said. “Famine must have been acting under orders to make Sam addicted to demon blood again.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Sam said. There was still an edge to his voice. “So… all’s well that ends well?”

“Y-yeah,” Dean quickly said. “I guess. Let’s just… get out of here, alright?”

“Oh yeah, agreed,” the taller brother quickly said, as he looked at the corpses around him. “Wow, that’s…”

“Terrifying?”

“Yeah… that’s… I mean, Famine did…? All these people, they just..?”

“Think so, they were like that when me and Kid came in.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Including a dozen of people in black suits?”

Dean looked around at the bodies of possessed humans. “Oh no, the men in black were demons; Famine’s lackeys. We took them out.”

And as the two brothers continued their shell-shocked conversation, a battered Kid slowly stood up. Castiel and Anna stood in silence. Soon, Anna left, excusing herself and explaining she wanted to return the cats. Cas went out to get a soda.

As for Kid, he was content just staying where he was, appreciating his lost-but-found clarity of mind. There was something about just lying there in peace, and not having to worry that you were losing a battle against your own consciousness that was strangely relaxing… or maybe that was an after effect of his Madness. He was in a similar mood after fighting Asura. A feeling of clear-headedness he thought he’d lost forever…

Still, that left the young Grim Reaper with one burning question… one thing that plagued his occasionally-not-so-healthy mind.

The Horsemen… were they Old Ones, like his Father?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is it taking so long to update?  
> A. I’m not a very prolific writer.  
> B. These chapter are over 6000 words long, and encompass a whole TV episode, so again, they take time. Please understand.  
> SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO SAKURA FOR WRITING A LARGE PART OF THE FIGHTING SCENES, YOU’RE AN AWESOME BETA! :D


	5. Grim Responsibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO FUCKING LONG. PLOT HAD TO BE REWORKED.  
> 16,000 words, longest chapter I’ve posted so far, woooooo

It was after the tumulus events of crossing paths with Famine that Kid was more than glad to be in the Impala, driving across lone highways, including the occasional stop at the gas station. The Winchesters and Reaper had been on the road for a day, and Kid would lie, if he claimed he didn’t enjoy the peacefulness monotony provided.

However, he still had a responsibility. The Apocalypse was still looming over everyone’s heads like a cleaver suspended by a thin thread.

“I take it we’re going somewhere and not travelling aimlessly?” asked the Reaper, eyeing the front mirror where the hunters’ faces were reflected.

“Yeah,” Sam answered absent-mindedly. “There are some freak storms at Sioux Falls. Could be a sign of something related to the Apocalypse and it’s the only lead we got so far.”

Kid nodded in response, relieved at Sam’s willingness to share information. The hunters and Grim Reaper may not have had the best of starts, but their previous ‘adventures’ slowly built up a bridge of trust; even if said structure was a hastily-made rope bridge.

About an hour later the Impala came to a stop at the outskirts of a small Midwest town, next to an old motel with flaking plaster. Dean turned off the motor and the two hunters exited the car, Reaper following in tow. The brothers headed straight for the motel while Kid remained in place, the young Reaper rotating his numb shoulders and stretching his back. He took in a deep rejuvenating breath and, as a background check, enabled his Soul Perception briefly.

Kid froze in place.

The Soul Wavelength he sensed was not menacing. Powerful, yes, but not threatening. And familiar, literally.

“Father?”

The teen immediately whipped his head around, as if the older Grim Reaper was hiding playfully behind a trashcan -something that had happened to a younger Kid when taking a walk with his dad around Death City.

Kid shook his head to focus. This was unquestionably his father’s wavelength. The reaper looked up, his Soul Perception still active.

A large yellow three-spiked dome loomed over the town.

Kid let out a disbelieving gasp. At the same time, Sam’s head appeared from the motel’s entrance, looking at the immobile supernatural.

Said Reaper suddenly became very mobile and ran away from the Impala like a madman, causing Sam to yell at Dean in alarm and ran after the boy. Kid however, ignored the two humans behind him as he rushed to where the center of the dome would be, the brothers lagging significantly behind.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid, in his mad dash for his father, jumped over trashcans, climbed fences and almost got hit by a police car. Yet the boy recognized his shenanigans with a mild scowl, every obstacle costing him precious seconds, decreasing the time he could potentially use to find his parent.

The Reaper ran through the cemetery´s gates, the location being fortunately deserted on this summer noon. Foliage and tall trees provided ample shade and the older Grim Reaper was nowhere in sight. Kid focused more on his Soul Perception, cursing at his immature powers. Though the young Reaper could easily perform Soul Perception, as it came more naturally on him than on any other Meister, including the prodigies Maka and Stein, his sixth sense was limited in range. What made up for it however, was that that Kid could sense a soul in greater detail, including Kishin progenitor marks and inner layers, like a cut onion.

And right now, the deepest layer of his father’s soul was a few meters away and obstructed by an elder tree.

“Father!” Kid let out inadvertently, his need to see his dad overpowering his more analytical and cautious side as he sprinted around the tree.

“…Kid?”

It was surreal. There Kid was, expecting to see his dad after months of struggle, yet said parent was standing casually over a grave, with a hint of reluctance in his hunched frame, less than a month after Kid teamed up with the Winchesters.

“Dad!” And in one of his least composed moments, Kid’s face split into a wide smile as the young reaper ran and enveloped Death in an awkward hug. Well, it was more like he was enveloped, but the sentiment was still there.

The boy felt a hand softly brushing against the top of his head as another wrapped around the young Reaper’s thin frame.

“Kid…” Death’s voice was sad but elated. “I was so worried…” Death pulled his child closer. “Are you okay, son?”

The teen couldn’t help but laugh in relief. “I’m alright, dad.”

“Hm…” The older Grim Reaper leaned in thoughtfully.

“Father?” Kid looked up from the embrace.

“You look a bit pale, kiddo… have you being eating well?”

“I’m always pale.”

“No, no, not that much.”

The young reaper scowled. “Yes that much.”

“Kid, I know how my son normally looks.”

“Father, I know my own complexion.”

“Hm…”

The boy’s face fell. “Father…”

“Have you been wearing warm clothes? It’s gotten quite chilly those last few weeks~”

The young reaper crossed his arms and huffed. “I’m fine, father, I’m not a child!”

“Why, I never!” Death shot back in a playfully offended matter.

The father and son soon got into a harmless squabble more befitting of a sit-com rather than a situation featuring two Death Gods.

“No matter, no matter~,” Death sang as he bent down on to be on Kid’s eye level. “How are you doing, kiddo?”

“I’ve teamed up with two hunters, father.” Upon sensing the elder Reaper’s concern, Kid put his hand up in defense. “Let me explain. They’re brothers, their names are Dean and Sam Winchester…”

“Oh, I have heard of them,” Death said, his mask frowning. “They are the two humans standing against this whole mess. More so than the entirety of Heaven, if I may.”

“That’s what I’ve noticed as well.” Kid sighed. “It feels like these two are the only ones who are stopping the main event of the Apocalypse from happening.”

“Makes sense,” Death hummed. “After all, the archangel Michael needs a vessel to come to the mortal world. Lucifer needs Samuel too, since his current vessel is rapidly deteriorating. What a mess this is…”

Upon hearing the Devil’s name, Kid scrunched his brow in concern. “Father, are you-?”

“I’m ok, kiddo,” Death immediately said, as if sensing his son’s concern. “Not much can hurt your old man, ya know…~”

Kid’s face fell. “Father…”

“It’s true~!” Death piped up in defense. “Not much has been going on, a freak storm here or there, meeting some folks I thought I’d never see again…” Yet the Grim Reaper’s cheery voice was a bit forceful, something Kid had learned to catch on over time.

“Father…” the young Reaper hesitantly said. “I know you’re lying. Please, tell me the truth. What’s going on? Why are you here?”

Death didn’t answer. Kid kept his concerned gaze on the elder Reaper. “…Dad…”

The Grim Reaper sighed. “I have no choice…”

The boy didn’t respond, sensing his father’s discomfort. Instead, he sat next to his dad, on top of the tombstone, and placed a comforting hand on his lap.

The elder Grim Reaper reciprocated the gesture by bringing a protective hand around his son’s shoulders. “Lucifer’s bonds are strong, Kid. Very strong. I’m virtually powerless and have to obey the _brat_ _’_ _s orders_ ,” a bit of Death’s old menacing voice came up, “no matter what they are.”

“Father, what’s going on?” Kid asked with a sense of urgency.

The Old One paused and let out a long sigh. “I’m not proud of my actions, son. Keep that in mind when I explain the situation.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was almost half an hour later that an Impala drove up at the graveyard’s entrance, and two sweaty hunters exited the vehicle. The two humans glanced quickly at the cemetery gates, before looking at the central path.

Kid, who at this point had been sitting in a bench along the main path, looked up at the hunters, his face having an unreadable expression.

“Kid, what the hell man?!” Dean yelled as he made his way to the boy. “We had to scout half the town to find you. The fuck happened?”

“Why’d you ran?” Sam, who had been following Dean, asked as he rubbed some sweat off his brow. “And good God, you can run fast.”

“Sam, Dean, I…” Kid’s voice trailed off, “I apologize. It wasn’t important. I thought I’d sensed something, but I was wrong. Should we head back to the motel?”

Sam frowned at the Grim Reaper’s nonchalant response, glancing at Dean who reciprocated the gesture.

“What did you sense?” the younger Winchester asked.

“It’s not important. Turns out it was nothing.” The young Reaper gingerly stood up, brushing at the ends of his white shirt. “I apologize again for the inconvenience. Shall we head back now?”

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again as he couldn’t find the words. “Just…” the elder Winchester eventually said, “Just give us a heads up before you decide to go all Road Runner on us, ok?”

Sam rolled his eyes at his older brother, as the trio made their way to the Impala.

 \\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid frowned as the car passed by the local diner with no sign of stopping. “We are not stopping at a diner as usual?”

“Change of plans,” Dean replied. “We’re heading to Bobby’s place.”

“I remember him,” Kid said. “From when I first met you.”

“Yup, so we don’t have to worry about formalities,” Dean said distractedly.

The Grim Reaper frowned at the older Winchester’s flippant tone.  “Weren’t we headed for the diner in order to investigate a murder?”

“Long story short, we got caught by the Sheriff and our cover was blown,” Sam responded, taping absentmindedly at the car’s door. “Turns out she knew Bobby because he lives here.”

Kid frowned. Usually the younger Winchester looked back to address him face to face when they were talking. It was a sign of politeness often missing from the older brother, and one Kid appreciated. The apparent obviousness from Sam’s tapping served to further signify that both he and Dean were acting strange. “Sam, Dean, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Alright, we’re here,” Sam stated, ignoring Kid’s question, as they pulled at an unassuming house near a scrapyard. Kid raised an eyebrow; was it him, or were these two acting like the first day he’d met them?

Ok, fine. If they were having an issue, Kid doubted he’d be able to change their minds. They were stubborn. As long as he didn’t’ have to worry about their resolve or them attacking him, Kid could play along. He’d just have to be patient. Again.

“We’ll go in first,” Dean spoke up as he gave Sam a look. “Gotta make sure Bobby doesn’t accidentally shoot you… or us.”

As the two left for the house, Kid frowned. The alienation would probably bother him. The Winchesters were troubled, but a decent bunch. They weren’t, say, like Maka, Black*Star, Tsubaki or Soul, and they were leagues below Liz and Patty. But, Kid could see himself working with them, and admired their determination. Having a working relationship with them would help ease the burden that was the Apocalypse.

The young Grim Reaper wasn’t much of a people’s person but he appreciated the company of humans. It was a shared characteristic between the two Grim Reapers.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Meanwhile, currently waiting for a certain individual to open the door, Sam and Dean were having their own private conversation.

“Kid’s acting weird,” Sam stated.

“Yeah, he made it obvious by running to a graveyard the moment he went out the car.” Dean walked around the house, trying to peek through a window but being disappointed once he saw drawn curtains. “Couldn’t have asked for a bigger red flag.”

“So you believe Digger’s testimony?”

“When I heard it? Nah. After I find out our resident Grim Reaper is acting weird and running to cemeteries? I’m suspicious.”

Sam frowned. “You don’t think Kid is involved, do you?”

“Well, I’d say it doesn’t make sense, but lots of things don’t make sense in our lives. At this point we should just keep an eye out…”

The brothers were interrupted from their conversation by the door opening up to reveal Bobby. Sam gave the man a small smile with Dean settling for a grin.

Bobby ignored the duo, craning his head to look behind them at what could be considered a yard.

“I don’t see any police with you, so Jody didn’t call the boys on me this time…” He let out a relieved sigh, but his expression was short-lived when he noticed Kid standing by the side of the Impala. “I see you brought Thanatos Junior with you.”

“Eh, turns out he’s not that bad." Dean glanced back and shrugged. "Think of him as goth teenager, only with less pretentiousness, who occasionally walks in on people showering.”

Bobby did a double take at the last line. “What?”

“Just,” Sam spoke up, looking between the man and Kid, “can we come in?”

The man hesitated, throwing a quick look to the Grim Reaper and then behind him, towards the stairs. “Sure… make yourselves like home.”

Eventually, the three were welcomed in by a bit grumpy but nonetheless helpful Bobby.

Dean sniffed the moment he stepped into the house. “Did…” He sniffed again. “Did you _clean_?”

“Are these apple pies?” Sam asked when he noticed the kitchen counter.

Kid looked upstairs. Bobby followed his gaze and gulped.

“So, Bobby,” Dean spoke up, distracting the man. “About that case that’s less than five miles from your house?”

“What about it?”

“Digger said that our victim was attacked by a dead man.”

This seemed to attract Kid’s attention, who stopped gazing at the upper floor of the house and focused back on the brothers. “A dead man?”

“Yup,” Sam responded. “Are you involved in this?”

“Of course. I personally travelled back in time to resurrect the dead and get you to come in the middle of nowhere,” the boy said in a deadpan tone.

“It’s not the middle of nowhere,” Bobby commented.

“It’s South Dakota.” Dean stated. Bobby gave him an offended look.

The rest of the conversation was rather uneventful. Bobby tried his best to convince the three that they were barking up the wrong tree. Dean and Sam voiced their objections but Bobby shot them down with ease only years of practice would allow. Kid stayed relatively quiet, occasionally gazing upwards.

The Grim Reaper could sense a soul that shouldn’t be on this realm upstairs. It was a woman’s, its color a warm blue, though with a noticeable blurred outline, a characteristic of an incomplete resurrection. It felt wrong, and Kid had to restrain himself from barging up those stairs and probably causing a ruckus. He was aware the man, Bobby, was doing all he could to drive them away from this place. Bobby was probably worried about the actions Sam and Dean would take, which would be taking the dead down. His motive probably was to protect that soul Kid sensed on the second floor…

The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance. Barely a day in, and outsiders were already involved. If the man continued acting in defense of the dead, he may be able to bring Sam and Dean to his side, due to the close relationship the brothers had with him. If something like that happened, Kid would have to worry about these three, plus putting down all dead. Things wouldn’t end well.

Nevertheless, he had to be subtle. Kid could still use his unique position as the Grim Reaper to advise the two brothers on their course of action, but he had to be careful not to let it slip how the dead had come back to life, or how Kid had learned about them. That would only make him suspicious on the hunter’s eyes, and their suspicion was often followed by gunpowder and bullets.

About half an hour and a few unfruitful arguments later, the duo were making their way to the car. Sam and Dean had been seemingly convinced by Bobby to leave this place, but Kid could sense the curiosity emitted from their souls. That was good. It meant he had room to maneuver.

As soon as they got into the car, Kid stoop us straight and leaned towards the two hunters. “Mr. Singer is lying.”

“What? How do you-?”

“Grim Reaper, Sam. I’ve been having this strange feeling since we arrived in this city. Something’s…” Kid looked away for a brief second, “off.”

Sam frowned. “Is this why you run off earlier?”

“Among other things, yes.” Kid half-lied. “I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure exactly what I was sensing.”

Dean looked back at Kid. “Well then. Time to check the graveyard,”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

An hour later, a satisfied Kid was trailing the brothers as they were sneaking in a typical middle-class suburban house. Sam’s and Dean’s suspicions were enough to fuel their desire for uncovering the dug tombstone found at the graveyard on the outer edges of the city -Kid had visited an old, long-unused one on the other side of the city-  and tracing it back to an address.

The man they were after was Clay Thompson. His tombstone suggested he lead an ordinary -if short- life, so Kid wasn’t too worried about the difficulty of putting him down. The next part was after, when he had to convince the brothers to go after all the other resurrected individuals.

“Kid?” Sam asked as he turned his flashlight on. They were outside the house, slowly creeping in the front entrance. The neighborhood was quiet and empty.

“He’s here,” the Grim Reaper said in a serious tone, his eyes temporarily glazing over as he used his Soul Perception.

“In the back of the house,” the teen added as they entered the building, courtesy of Dean’s lock picking skills. “There are people upstairs, a woman and two children. I don’t know if they’re awake.”

They entered a living room which could be described as plain and typical. Sam began made his way to the kitchen, but Kid raised his hand and stopped him

“To the left,” the Grim Reaper whispered. “He’s hiding behind the door.”

Dean nodded as he stepped forward. Kid slightly frowned, wishing he was the one who would down the man, but didn’t protest.

The older hunter made his way to the door before he swiftly turned around, pointing his gun straight towards Kid’s and Sam’s blind spot behind the door.

Then, Dean immediately backed up as a pale middle-aged man swung a pan where the hunter previously was. The man swung with is pan again, this time letting out a desperate cry as he lunged at Dean. The hunter was faster though, instinctively leaning forwards and punching the undead man in the neck, downing him.

Kid stepped forwards as Dean pointed his gun at the man’s head and Sam readied his shotgun.

“No, no, no, don’t shot,” the man stuttered, hands in the air. “If you want money, there’s some in the vault-”

“That’s him, Clay Thompson,” the Grim reaper said, scowling at the undead man. He took a decisive step forwards, towards Clay. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Woah, hold on there, Carrie.”

“Dean…” Kid gave the hunter a pointed look before refocusing on the thoroughly confused man. “He should be dead.”

“Yeah, we got that the first time-”

“Uh,” Clay interrupted them. “Who are you?”

“Uh…” Sam stumbled at his words giving an urgent look at Dean who looked like a deer in headlights. “FBI,” the younger Winchester eventually said. “We’re FBI.”

“FBI….? Are you here about Benny?” he looked at Kid who was currently glaring at him. “Why do you have a kid with you?”

“Yes, we’re here about Benny,” Dean answered, ignoring the second question.

“You’re Clay Thompson?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” the man replied, at the same time Kid responded with “He is.”

“Um…” Clay stuttered. “Why is the kid glaring at me? Why does the FBI have a kid with them?”

“He’s an intern, they start young,” Dean lied without a pause. Kid kept his fist clenched and his gaze steady.

The man was escorted outside. Kid looked back to the house, where he felt the second soul move about. She had probably alerted the police but was staying out of harm’s way. Smart.

As they exited the house, they moved to the side, where the house neighbored with a communal park. They made Clay stand with his back turned towards them. Sam still had his shotgun loaded but looked conflicted and kept glancing at his brother.

“Dean,” the younger Winchester said in surprise when the older hunter pointed the gun at the back of the man’s head.

“What? He’s a monster.”

“He’s a soccer dad,” Sam shot back.

“The dead aren’t meant to come back,” Kid stated darkly.

“Least I got your support,” Dean muttered.

“I can take care of him swiftly and without much fuss, if I may,” Kid spoke up, taking a step towards the man. His face was obscured by the darkness, and shadows creeped up his arm.

The younger Winchester glanced worriedly between the two. “Dean, I don’t agree with this.” He slowly raised his shotgun, but it was not pointed at Clay Thompson’s direction.

“Sam, he’s supposed to be dead-”

“That’s no excuse for us killing him-!”

Kid barely spared a look at the brothers as he slowly made his way to the man. Clay, who had had his back the entire time, was unaware of what was happening, but couldn’t help shivering. His heart beat fast and he suddenly recalled his last moments, bleeding out face-down on the dirt, as black overtook his vision.

Kid was barely a step away when a loud police alarm startled them all, as police cars pulled up on the small road. Sam and Dean jumped in surprise as Kid cursed at his luck. Last thing he needed right now was a diversion.

Kid looked back at the police cars. Their lights were blindingly bright, but a few trees obscured Kid from their point of view. Problem was, if he wanted to get to Clay Thompson, he would have to expose himself and everyone, including the hunters and policemen, would see him executing a man on cold blood.

Meanwhile, after Dean and Sam had regained part of their vison, they looked back to where Kid once was.

The young Grim Reaper was gone.

“Fast little bastard,” Dean mumbled as he was handcuffed and escorted inside the police car.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

"Boys," Sherriff Jody stated as she walked into the interrogation room. Dean and Sam were cuffed side by side but far enough so that they wouldn't be able to assist each other.

"Sheriff. I would say it’s lovely to see you again, if we weren’t handcuffed," Dean said without pause as he toyed with the restraints on his wrists. Sam simply gulped and gave the woman a nervous smile.

"Oh, you’ll see me a lot more,” the woman replied in stride. She sat down on the chair opposite to them, and lay down a brown thin file. “Apart from impersonating an officer and attempted murder, you’re also charged with kidnapping of a minor."

"What?" Sam was the first to respond after a short pause. Next to him, Dean craned his neck to look at the file.

"The boy with you." She grabbed a photo among the documents and turned it around. Kid was depicted at the photo. He appeared to be several years younger, wearing a plain white shirt and black shorts. He had the same disinterested expression the Winchester were used to, though he was looking to the right side of the photo, whose very edge was corrupted with 'white noise'. "Daniel Eath. He's sixteen and has been declared missing last month."

"When Lucifer summoned Death,” Dean muttered to Sam.

"What was that, boys?"

"Nothing, Dean’s a big fan of a TV soap opera.” Sam quickly said, ignoring his brother’s offended look.

Jody raised her eyebrow at the two. "You said Lucifer summoned Death.”

"As I said soap opera,” Sam repeated, the fake smile never leaving his face. “You won’t believe the kind of plots they come up with."

"Look, we didn’t kidnap the kid,” Dean stated, trying to fight down the embarrassment by changing the subject.

"Then how was he with you?"

"That’s...” Sam rubbed his temple, before a thought came to him. “Hey, who reported him as missing?"

“Acquaintances, not family, so it took some time for his case to be processed.”

Sam frowned, glancing at Dean. "Wouldn’t they know…?”

"Know what, Winchester?”

"Sharp ear, sheriff,” Dean replied with some strain in his voice.

Jody gave them an unamused look. "Don’t change the subject.”

"Boy’s got some family drama going on,” Dean smoothly replied. “Besides, his family hasn’t reported him missing so…"

“That’s what puzzled me as well. Only relative I could find was the boy’s father... Doodlebop Eath," Jody gave a small glare to the brothers who almost laughed out loud, “was also reported missing around the same date. There are no records of a mother or any other relatives. Regardless, you show up with a kid that’s missing and start causing trouble. That’s suspicious by any book.” She looked to her file. "We don't have a photo for the father, which is strange..."

“The case is registered at Nevada. That’s quite far from here.” Dean stated as he scanned over the file. “Taken a sudden interest in the Silver State?”

“None of your business, Winchester. The case caught my eye.”

"Officer, we..." Sam hesitated, "uh, we know the kid from way back.” The sheriff raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “There’s some family drama going on so if we could just talk to these acquaintances, I’m sure we can clear this whole misunderstanding up.”

The woman gave them a long look. Dean gave her a grin whereas Sam had a look of utmost sincerity.

The Sherriff sighed. "Very well. I've already notified a pair of acquaintances when I first saw him. Almost hit the kid with my car this morning. They said they’re arriving tomorrow so we can sort this out then."

"Does that mean we get to leave?" Dean asked hopefully.

"I don't think so. You still have all the other charges, Winchesters. You'll be spending the night here."

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was early morning when Bobby passed by the police station. After a conversation with Jody the hunters were not privy to, the sheriff let them out half-heartedly.

"Reaper junior not with you?" Bobby said as soon as he met with the Winchesters.

Dean frowned. “Not even a ‘hello’?”

The man quickly turned around and made his way to the exit. "We need to get back to my place. Now."

Sam glanced at Dean as the two brothers followed after Bobby.

"The dead have come back to life,” Sam said. “Clay Thompson-"

"I know," Bobby cut him off. "Now let's go."

“You have explaining to do-” Dean started.

“Save it for brunch.”

“Bobby eats brunch?” the younger Winchesters whispered at his brother.

“Bobby _cooks_?” Dean asked back.

Eventually, the trio made their way to Bobby’s place in silence. The old man avoided meeting his gaze with the Winchesters throughout the entire ride.

“So,” Bobby said as Sam helped him off the car after unfolding his wheelchair, “Jody told me you tried to kill Clay.”

“Kill- the guy was already dead,” Dean protested.

“Did he look dead to you?”

“He wasn’t the poster boy for being alive,” the older Winchester shot back. “Guy even admitted he died _and_ committed a murder.”

“Benny was the one who killed him anyways,” the older man said dismissively.

“Bobby, that’s not how we do things,” Sam said. “Why... why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because I know your M.O., boys. It won’t do in this case.”

“Bobby,” Dean stated. “They’re zombies. Nothing good can come out of it.”

The older man opened his mouth to protest, but sighed. He looked at the two, then glanced behind his back from where they came from. “More importantly, where’s the reaper boy?”

“Hey, don’t change the subject-“

“It’s important Dean. Please, answer-“

“Oh, by the way,” Dean interjected the older man. “Another thing Jody told us was that the kid is registered as missing in Nevada. Did she tell you that, since you two are such good pals?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Jody’s got a little boy, so maybe the case caught her eye.”

“Funny, that’s the same phrase she used,” Dean said, leaning forwards.

“The case was registered in Nevada,” Sam pointed out. “What are the chances that a sheriff in North Dakota heard about that?”

“Unless someone pointed her to that direction,” Dean added. “Someone who was already looking for information.”

Bobby looked between the two. “Whatever you want to say, just spit it out,” he bluntly said.

“You’ve been doing research behind our backs,” Sam eventually said. “On Grim Reapers no less. So not only did you know about the zombies, you think a horseman is involved.”

Bobby let out another defeated sigh. “You got me.”

“Why didn’t you tell us-?”

“I’ll explain Dean, just be patient. Now, where’s the Grim Reaper?”

Sam glanced at Dean and crossed his arms. “He made a run for it,” he admitted. “We don’t know where he is.”

Bobby nodded at the information. “I guess it can’t be helped at this point… hopefully he doesn’t…” the man’s voice trailed off.

“He doesn’t what?” Sam asked starling the man from his thought.

“Just,” Bobby gulped as he looked over the kitchen window. “Just come inside.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

So far, Kid had scouted the city trying to identify as many undead as possible. Upon seeing their numbers were in the hundreds, he had to take a step back and rub his temples in frustration. The fact that the townspeople had readily accepted them and made them part of their social circles made things even worse. If Kid wanted to act, he may have to end up put down the undead in front of their families and loved ones; that would certainly end up badly.

In the back of his mind he was also slightly worried about the brothers. They had been arrested, but the sheriff was not one of the reanimated ones and Kid doubted the two would face any real repercussions. Plus, it allowed Kid to act freely for a short period of time, without having to make up excuses for his absence.

Still, it was obvious to the young Grim Reaper that he couldn’t act as he was planning to, silently culling those who should have never walked the Earth again. There were too many, and they were protected by their social circles. To act rogue would invite resistance -and Kid was aware of the extreme lengths humans went to keep loved ones alive- both amateur and professional, the latter being two armed and angry brothers.

That was it then. If Kid wanted things to be dealt with efficiently, he had to ask for a specific help.

The Grim Reaper stood up from the bench he was sitting in, looking around the blocks. He activated his Soul Perception and began looking for the Winchesters.

It was time to spill the beans. Time to share the full story of what Father had told him at the graveyard.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

_“_ _I raised the dead,_ _”_ Death admitted after a small period of silence. His voice was quiet, barely audible among the rustling leaves of the graveyard.

Kid didn’t respond, looking up to the elder Grim Reaper in shock.

Raising the dead was as close of a taboo when it came to their power as Death Gods. This was one of the first lessons Kid had been taught, around the same time when he realized the important part Grim Reapers played in maintaining the world’s balance.

“Father, your hand was forced,” Kid eventually responded whole-heartedly. The boy could only begin to comprehend the regret and the guilt that burdened his parent, and he felt it was important to emphasize to his dad how he would not break his own moral code willingly. “You would not do such a thing if it wasn’t for that damned archangel.”

“Language.”

“Sorry,” Kid responded, losing some of his previous bluster. “But I insist on reminding you of your unwillingness, father. It is not your fault.”

“…Thanks, kiddo~” Death replied, some of his previous cheer coming back to his tone. “That means a lot to me, you know~” His voice trailed off in a nostalgic mirthfulness. When he spoke again, his tone was slow and steady. “It is important for us to balance out the laws governing this land, versus the unique circumstances of each soul.”

Kid nodded, having heard this before. The power to resurrect had been used, but sparsely. Even in those times, it was mostly forced upon unique circumstances. One such example was in Sid’s case, which was also one of the less risky ones. The man’s soul had persisted upon the world of the living, and his body had been rendered mobile by Stein… The only thing Death had to do was place the soul back in the body, and Sid’s sheer willpower restored the connection. Even then though, the man complained of stiffness and frequently had to visit Stein to ensure his body wouldn’t break apart, not to mention he had to follow a strict training and meditating regiment to ensure his mind wouldn’t go rogue. It was not an easy existence.

“It’s all about finding the right balance,” the young Grim Reaper agreed.

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Death’s frame slumped. “Needless to say, in this case, Lucifer did not wish for a proper resurrection, only a crude imitation of life to be used as intimidation.”

Kid nodded absentmindedly. The Grim Reapers could not restore life. They were only able to end it. In order for them to resurrect someone, they would have to undo their act of ‘harvesting’ the soul and things could go… horribly wrong. The Grim Reapers could try and minimize the damage as much as they could, but it was like trying to transfer water via a strainer.

The young Grim Reaper balled his fists in frustration. He was angry at Lucifer for having forced his father to be forced to do something so objectionable. But most of all, Kid was angry at himself, for being unable to help and having made no progress on how to get rid of the chains on his father’s hands.

Death seemed to sense his son’s frustration, for he tilted his head slightly at his silent child. He let out a quiet sigh as he sneakily raised his massive hand in a karate-styled manner over his son’s head and gave him a soft, harmless bump.

This was apparently enough to break Kid from his thoughts by sheer force of confusion. Kid reflexively fixed his hair as he looked up at his father much like a kid getting caught red-handed stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

“Now there, don’t go blaming yourself for things you’re not responsible for, kiddo.”

“I haven’t been doing much,” Kid objected. “I haven’t figured out how to reverse Lucifer’s bindings, or even formulated a coherent plan on taking his down…” The boy clenched his fists and looked away. “I’m failing my responsibilities as a Grim Reaper.”

“No, you’re not,” Death answered bluntly. “Though I don’t know exactly what you’ve been up to this past month, you’ve kept a low profile and gathered up support. That’s definitely not a failure.”

Kid didn't respond, opting for silence. Death gave his son a long look, before patting him lightly at the back.

“As for your other concerns…” the older Grim Reaper let out a small sigh. “Kid, Lucifer used an ancient ritual. I’m afraid there isn’t anything that can be done on that front.”

“I can’t just leave you bound to the Devil.”

“Unfortunately, you may have to,” Death said, nonchalantly. “Lucky for us, the binding will be off the moment Lucifer kicks the bucket, or is sealed away, and both of these things are possible. After all, you and I both know that no one is truly immortal, similar to how no one is immune to fear….” Death cut himself off, before letting out a small cough, as if to clear his throat.  “Anyways, I’m sure there are a couple of ways for Lucifer to be shut down without resulting to the annihilation of this planet.”

“That’s what we’re searching for. The brothers had a few plans on how to do so, but they have been foiled. So far the only viable plan we have so far is ambushing Lucifer and using my power to deliver a quick finishing blow.”

“...In order to win against Lucifer swiftly and with minimum casualties, you’d have to use your full power, son.”

Kid brought up a hand to brush against the left side of his hair where the black was interrupted by white. He didn’t want to bring _that event_ up now, when the two were having what felt like an actual honest conversation in months. Even if wasn’t the main point, it would probably dampen the mood between the two.

“I managed to beat Asura without connecting all three lines,” Kid finally said. Even though he regretted bringing it up the moment he saw Death sit just a tad straighter, he wanted to bring that up for two reasons. One was to show and perhaps reassure his parent that he was a force to be reckoned with.

The second reason was a sly one, and it was about egging his father to reveal what exactly would happen if the three lines were connected. Asura had mentioned something about them, and how he would ‘mature’ as a Grim Reaper, but Kid knew better than to trust the words of a madman, brother or not. Still, it now bugged Kid to be left in the dark when it came to what he was and how he would develop. Even though there probably wasn’t another Kishin-level bombshell, the secrecy rubbed Kid the wrong way.

“You did, and that exceeded all my expectations~” Death said, adopting a cheerful tone which both Grim Reapers knew was fake. “However, that battle was dragged out. And, I think in this case it’s best if Lucifer is done in quickly. Otherwise, we might as well let Michael finish him and the all of Earth along with it.”

Kid slightly frowned at these words. There was no mention of what would happen when Kid ‘matured’.

The young Grim Reaper was considering outright asking his father what would happen if the Sanzu lines connected, when Death continued his previous statement.

“And, frankly speaking, if the Apocalypse does happen, neither nor will you have _failed_ in our responsibilities. We are not obliged to keep any population, species, or even ecosystem alive, same way we are not obliged to destroy them.”

Kid gave a wide eyed look at his elder. “We can’t just let someone destroy everything you’ve helped built, father.”

“True, but we’re supposed to remain neutral.”

“Not when we’re involved in the destruction-”

“ _Kid, this isn_ _’_ _t the time to discuss ethics_ ,” Death cut him off, his tone imposing and sharp. “Technically, we have the right-”

“The same way Asura had the right to engulf the world with his Madness?!” Kid shot back, finding himself standing up in indignation.

Silence fell among them. Death slumped forward as he had before, his mask sullen and unreadable. Kid felt heat rising to his cheeks form indignation and embarrassment. On one hand, he couldn’t accept his father’s suggestion of watching idly as their power was used, even if partially, to bring a planet to ruins. On the other hand, bringing up Asura was the most inappropriate and ill-thought remark at that moment.

“I’m sorry for shouting,” Kid spoke up after a few seconds. “My last comment was… inappropriate.”

“It was surprisingly insightful,” Death replied after a small pause. His tone was back to its usual meeker version. “I’m sorry for forcing my views on you.”

“Is there anything I can do for the people here?” Kid asked, no-so-subtly changing the subject. “We can’t have the dead roam freely.”

“Don’t do anything to reveal yourself. That means no fancy counter-rituals or anything else that would suggest the presence of a second Death God. Lucifer would like nothing more than another Grim Reaper to add to his ranks. Other than that however, go nuts~...! Figuratively speaking, of course.”

Kid nodded at his father’s suggestion. If that was the case, perhaps he could slowly breach the subject with Sam and Dean… they were starting to build up trust between them and him, so he would have to be subtle. He wasn’t willing to share the intricacies of the process to them, so he would have to either work alone or present an effective case for them to take down those brought back to life. After all, the trouble with resurrection often happened to be the relative and friends of the deceased, who usually go out of their ways to prevent losing their loved ones again.

Kid was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the air around him fall a few degrees. He looked to his father, who was observing thick but barely visible chains manifest themselves around his hands.

“Oh dear, it seems like I’m being called back…” Death slowly stood up, bending comically backwards to stretch his frame. “Be safe, kiddo, and keep a low profile,” he said, ruffling his son’s hair one last time.

“You too, father,” Kid replied with a small smile, his hand immediately reaching up to fix his hair.

Death made an agreeing noise, but did not move from his position. “There’s one last thing I want to tell you, son,” he eventually said in a serious tone.

Kid tilted his head at him in confusion.

“I’m sorry for making you clean up my mess. Again.” Death sighed and looked away.

“Dad,” Kid replied, attracting Death’s attention. The boy paused, but eventually gave his parent a genuine smile.

“We’re family. We help each other out.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“ _And through the fire stood before me a Pale Horse, and he who sat atop him, carried a scythe. And I saw since he had risen, they too shall rise and from him and through him._ ”

After Bobby finished reading off the Bible, he out the heavy tome back on his office. Sam ran a hand through his face while Dean gulped.

They had just finished their lunch with Bobby’s undead wife who was surprisingly normal for a lady who used to be ashes a couple of days ago. Sam had a disturbed expression throughout the whole experience, while Dean tried to go for a smile which came out as a pained grimace every time he interacted with the woman. Soon after, the three had moved into Bobby’s office, where the older man just finished explaining his suspicions about the whole situation.

The older Winchester was the first one to speak. “Does it have to be Death?”

“Come on, Dean,” Sam said. “You said it yourself, Kid was acting weird. This is too much of a coincidence.”

“Wouldn’t he have told us?”

“That implies trust,” Bobby said slowly.

Dean shrugged, “Well, I don’t ‘not trust’ him. He’s not my BBF but I know he’s not gonna put a bullet in me while I sleep.”

“Unfortunately, you’re correct,” a familiar voice came from the windowsill. Kid was standing outside and had opened the window, already making his way inside the house.

“Speak of the devil,” Sam mumbled while Dean jumped in place and then muttered something about ‘damned supernaturals and their unexpected entrances’.

Bobby was about to speak up until Karen entered from the kitchen, causing everyone to look at her.

“Bobby, do we have a new guest-oh,” she froze in her steps when she regarded Kid. “Do I… know you from somewhere?”

Upon not receiving a response, Karen turned to the two brothers. “Who’s the boy? Yours?”

“Honey, maybe you should go upstairs?” Bobby softly said as he wheeled himself to his wife. “Maybe rest to cure your headache?” he suggested as he escorted Karen to the stairs, while making sure that he was poisoned between Kid and Karen at all times.

“I guess,” the woman hesitantly said, giving a final glance to the two hunters and inhuman. “You be careful dear, alright?”

Bobby nodded along giving his wife a small smile until she went out from his line of sight.

Straightening his back, the man turned around and fixed his gaze on the Grim Reaper. “Get out.”

“Where were you?” Sam asked.

“Scouting,” the boy said, not turning his gaze away from the stairs. “Mrs Singer complained about headaches,” he stated.

“Why do you care?” Bobby was doing little to hide his hostility towards the Grim Reaper, with his tone and pose as aggressive as they could be.

The teen ignored the man as he frowned and bit his lip. “It’s already starting…”

“It-? There is nothing going on here!” Bobby insisted, bringing himself between Kid and the staircase.

“The dead are meant to stay dead, Mr Singer. They are not supposed to come back to life-” Kid began.

“There’s nothing in there that says that’s bad!” Bobby cut him off, pointing towards the Bible. “Boy, if you say your dad raised the dead, and you say he’s basically a good guy, then why-?”

“They are not evil.” Kid stated and let out a small sigh. “Their souls are human and, well… they’re not evil. They’re ordinary people. But still… they should be dead and this discrepancy will cause them to go mad and seek other souls. There’s a reason necromancy is one of the darkest fields of magic,” Kid continued, starting to ramble, “and there is no way to fully bring back a person from the dead, unless you’re a Grim Reaper and under correct circumstances, which are near impossible to achieve, so there’s a reason we don’t do that-”

“But your dad is the Grim Reaper!”

“And he’s bound to Lucifer!” the Grim Reaper shot back. “You think the Devil want everyone to meet their long lost loved ones and live happily ever after?!” Kid said, clenching his fists looking away from the humans. “My father would not have raised the dead at all. However, his power is out of his hands, so even if I know he wouldn’t do such a disgusting thing, the case is that Lucifer most certainly forced him!”

“How do you know that this is the case?!”

Kid braced himself for what he was about to say next. At this point, there was little reason to keep secrets. “Because he told me so.”

Everyone went silent.

“What-?” Dean began.

“Kid when-?” Sam asked.

“When we arrived here. I sensed father’s soul, so I ran to where he was until I found him. He didn’t want me to know what was going on, but I know when he lies, and he eventually admitted the truth.”

“So is it Lucifer-?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s-”

The boy nodded. “Raising the dead is like breaking a vase and then attempting to reconstruct it without using any glue. The structure could collapse at any moment and even if it didn’t break apart again… the cracks were visible and the vase would only be a shadow of its former self.”

“No. that’s not it,” Bobby muttered. “Karen is not _broken_ , she’s exactly as I remember her and there aren’t any signs-”

“Mr. Singer, I realize you are in a hard position-” Kid began.

“Don’t ‘Mr Singer’ me and say you understand. _You don_ _’_ _t_.” Bobby spoke up, cutting the Grim Reaper off. “Besides, if Death is controlled by Lucifer, how do you know he’s telling the truth?”

Kid didn’t respond, frowning at the man in confusion, a gesture that the two brothers copied.

“Maybe he wants us to fight over this,” Bobby continued, “or maybe he just wants to halt your progress on finding something that could take him out for good, or- “

“There’s no reason for Lucifer to do that! Raising the dead properly is near impossible and Father assured me this is not one of these cases-”

“How do you know he’s not lying?”

“Father wouldn’t lie to m-!” Kid cut himself off just before he completed the sentence. “I have good reasons to believe Father is telling the truth.”

“You look like you choked there,” Sam commented raising an eyebrow at the Grim Reaper.

“That’s none of your business, Winchester. What is important is that the dead were raised to bring chaos into this town,” Kid stated.

“But he’s the one who did it.”

“He’s following orders!” Kid shot back. “Death cannot create life!”

“So how do you exist?!”

Kid was taken aback. He didn’t answer immediately, looking conflicted. “That is information you are not privy to.”

Silence fell between them. Sam and Dean looked lost as Bobby and Kid glared at each other.

“Well,” the older man sighed as he wheeled himself towards his desk. “I didn’t want it to end this way.”

Dean looked up from where he was sitting and frowned as both bothers stood up from their seats. “Bobby, what-?”

The older man grabbed a shotgun from behind his office and pointed it towards the three, with a particular focus on the Grim Reaper. “Off my property. I will handle it my way.”

Dean put up his hands up in the air, while Sam tried to take a step forwards before Bobby inclined the gun towards him.

“Bobby, calm down-” Sam began.

“I’m not telling you twice.” The man cocked his shotgun for added effect.  “Get out of my house.”

Kid took a step forward. Bobby raised his gun and pointed it at the boy’s face.

“You cannot kill me,” the Grim Reaper stated.

“No, but I can put a few bullets in your head. That hurts, you know.”

After a few tense moments where neither party appeared to be backing down, Kid broke eye contact. With a frustrated sigh the boy turned away and exited the house. The older man’s shotgun was pointed at the door for a few moments afterwards, only to them be turned towards the two brothers.

“Bobby…” Dean warned as he backed away from the hallway, he and Sam walking backwards towards the door.

“Don’t ´Bobby´ me. When did you two get so buddy-buddy with a Grim Reaper?!” the man shouted as he slammed the door at the two.

After an incredulous look from the older hunter the two turned around only to find that Kid was nowhere to be seen.

Dean threw his hand in the air in exasperation. “Oh, great, the day keeps getting better.”

“Should we call the Angel Squad?” Sam suggested, looking back and forth between Bobby’s house and the scrapyard.

“Sure, why not complicate matters further,” Dean said as the two began walking towards the car. “Got Cas’ number?”

“My phone’s out of battery.”

Dean gave his brother a small smirk. “No problem, check this out.”

The older hunter stepped forwards and cupped his hands as if they were a megaphone. “Oi, Cas!” he shouted, “get your feathery ass out here! Bring Anna too!”

“My posterior is not made of feathers, Dean,” a toneless voice came from behind the older hunter who stopped just short from jumping in surprise.

Anna, who appeared shortly after and without violating anyone’s personal space, frowned at the two brothers. “You two seem distressed. The young Grim Reaper is not with you as well.”

“Yeah, long story,” Dean scratched his head as he looked back at Bobby’s house and then towards the city center. “We kinda have a situation in our hands.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid was sitting in front of a porch of an old abandoned house, sulking. Not that he would admit to doing so.

In the distance, he was aware of a bus shuttle suddenly halting. He found it strange at first, since there was no designated stop for it, but these thoughts were overshadowed by the bigger problem he was facing right now.

The situating had evolved much worse than he anticipated. Not only was the undead problem big in scale, Kid had just lost any support he had, namely Sam and Dean. The Grim Reaper’s confrontation with what the two apparently considered a mentor only helped undo whatever trust they had been building up with.

Kid wished he could blame the whole thing on human short-sightedness, but he wasn’t that arrogant. There were probably ways he could have handled it better, ways which he would probably come up a few months from now and feel frustration on his inability to come up with them sooner.

“MOTHERFUCKER-!” A young female voice came from a bit of a distance away as two teens hastily crossed the road, and ran towards the young Grim Reaper.

The voice was very familiar, so much so that it broke any train of thought Kid had as he looked up to see the two approaching figures.

And promptly froze in place. “ _Liz_?”

"HOLY FUCK THAT'S REALLY KID, SIS!" the second girl yelled, throwing her hands in the air and letting out a joyful laugh.

“ _Patty?!_ ”

When they were close enough where they could see each other’s faces clearly, the older teen walked, -or more accurately stomped- her way towards the boy with murder in her eyes.

" _Death. The. Kid."_

There was a brief moment of silence where Kid gaped at the two in shock. He blinked a couple of times, until they marched up eight in front of him. "E-Elizabeth?! Patricia?!" He repeated, as if unable to believe his eyes. Kid even activated his Soul Perception to make sure his frustration hadn’t turned into Madness and caused him to see things.

There was no denying it. Patty and Liz were standing right before him, their expressions one of giddiness and rage respectively. Liz especially looked like she was about to kill a man, or a particular skinny Grim Reaper.

"You little shit," the older sister started, her tone a mix of disbelief and anger.

"You’re... here."

“Yup!” Patty announced. “And you’re not dead, so woo~!”

"You bet your skinny ass I’m here," Liz growled, her voice rising steadily in crescendo and emotion. "I did not live through running from ghosts in a demonic pirate ship or fight goddamned Asura just to be left behind!"

"No, wait, let me explain-”

"Oh, you’re gonna explain this shit alright!" Liz was full-on screaming at this point. "What the flying fuck happened?! You and your dad just disappeared! Do you know how much everyone freaked out?!"

"Uh... very?" Kid timidly asked.

"Very?! More like a metric crap-ton!"

"Ah, ok, ok I get it!" Kid said, raising his hands in a pacifying gesture as he tried to calm down the teen. Judging by Liz's expression, it didn’t work.

“Do you?! It’s been over a month!” Liz yelled, emphasizing each syllable. “For all we knew, both Grim Reapers were MIA, except there was no action! You might as well have disappeared in a fucking puff of smoke!”

During her tirade, the older sister kept walking forwards while Kid backed up until he hit the abandoned housed wall and they reached a standstill. When they stopped, Liz towered over Kid, even though she was only a bit taller than him.

"Now, Liz, I get that you’re angry but don’t- ouf" Kid stopped halfway through his remarks because she had pulled him into a tight hug.

“I did not expect that,” the boy mumbled as Patty enthusiastically joined in on the hug.

Liz’s hold on him tightened, as if to make sure he wasn’t going to disappear again. “We were _worried_ , you selfish little twat.” Her voice cracked, allowing to show exactly the anxiety and fear her anger was trying to hide.

“…Sorry.” Kid quietly said, before smiling and reciprocating the hug. “And thank you.”

The three eventually broke their embrace, with Liz rubbing her eyes and sniffing, before she composed herself while Patty made herself comfortable and put a hand around Kid’s shoulder.

"How’d you find me?" Kid asked.

"We got a call~!" Patty answered as she gave Kid another tight hug, leaning backwards so that Kid was lifted off the ground for a brief second. "A cop ratted you out!"

"The whole town helped put you and your dad as missing. We got a call yesterday noon and hurried our asses here in case you disappeared, again, haven’t even called the others yet to let them know you’re not dead or worse…" She ran a hand through her hair, further disheveling it. “How the fuck did you end up in South Dakota anyways?”

Kid’s face fell. “That’s… a long story.”

“It’d better be. I don’t wanna find out I travelled half a day just because you felt like taking a vacation.” Though caustic, her remark lacked the righteous anger her previous ones had. “Speaking of which, Death’s gone missing as well. We though you two may be together, but from what I can see that’s not the case.”

“I know where Father is... roughly,” Kid admitted, all his frustration from before piling up upon his psyche again. “Father isn’t in this city. At least, not anymore.”

The older Thompson stood up when she heard the Grim Reaper’s words. “Then what are we waiting for, let’s go get him-”

“Oh, are we gonna go look for Kid’s dad? Yay, more road trips~!”

The boy’s frown deepened at the sister’s remarks and he clenched his fists, but stayed silent. There were so many things he wanted to tell them and just as many things he had to tell them, with the categories often being mutually exclusive and with time running low. He didn’t even know where to begin.

Liz frowned when she saw Kid’s expression. “Oh crap, this can’t be good.” She sighed as she sat down by the old porch. “Come on, lay it on me. What’s wrong this time?”

“Father had been bound by Lucifer who performed an ancient ritual so that he could keep Father under his rule and instigate the Apocalypse,” Kid started, figuring he might as well explain how the whole situation came to be.

There was a small pause.

Liz blinked. “What…?”

“Father’s been-”

“No, stop, I heard the first time I just…” Liz rubbed her temples. “Give me some time to process it.”

Kid nodded as he sat between the girls.

Half a minute passed.

“When you say Lucifer…?” Liz began.

“The fallen angel,” Kid clarified. “Also known as Satan, or simply the Devil. He wants to bring upon the Apocalypse.”

“Ah, yes, of course, the Devil is involved in this. Makes perfect sense,” Liz replied in a blank tone. “How the fuck do I keep getting myself in these situations…?”

“Kid’s a Grim Reaper, sis~” Patty happily observed before her expression changed to one of awe. “Oh, does that mean we get to fight and win against the Devil? That’d be so cool, we’d be like superheroes~!”

“On a scale of one to Asura,” Liz slowly asked, “how bad of a situation are we talking about here?”

Kid took some time to answer. “With the bindings, Lucifer has access to Father’s power… I don’t know I there are any limits to what he can force Father to do.”

“Ah, so we’re dead men walking-”

“No, thankfully. The Devil’s final plan is being delayed. By two humans, nonetheless.”

Liz huffed. Kid didn’t know whether to interpret that as a positive or negative reaction. “Well, color me impressed. They’re probably as suicidal as we two are for sticking along with you.” She ran a hand through her hair again. “So, how much time do we got?”

“It depends. A big problem with Lucifer is that he is weakened. In order for him to fight Michael, he has to get an appropriate ‘vessel’-”

“Vessel? What’s that?” Patty asked.

“Possess a human, basically. Angels and demons, such as Lucifer and Michael, do not possess physical forms so they have to take over a body in order to walk the Earth.”

Liz grimaced. “Sounds freaky.”

“It’s not pleasant for the victims,” Kid agreed. “When it comes to Lucifer and Michael, a normal human body wouldn’t do for them, it’d collapse if they were to use their powers.”

“Ok, so what’s going on with our ‘Cain and Abel’ pair and their… vessels?” Liz asked.

“Well, the bad news is that there are two humans suitable for the two. The good news is that they’re brothers and they’re both quite determined in putting a stop to this madness.”

Liz nodded along with the explanation.  “And you know that about the vessels… how?”

“I’m currently working with them, or was at this point.”

“Was?”

“We recently had a falling out,” Kid begrudgingly admitted.

The older Thompson took a deep breath before speaking up. “Fuck, is this why we’ve been getting some crazy news stories out late again? The whole thing sounds like Asura 2.0, ‘mad, scary deity wants to destroy the world and yadda yadda’. Anyways, we can’t have you fight the Apocalypse alone, we can head back to the Academy-“

“Liz,” Kid interrupted her, “don’t-”

“Don’t…?” Liz said incredulously. “What the fuck do you mean ‘don’t’? Did I not just tell you how everyone was having mini heart attacks about you disappearing?!” Her old anger had resurfaced and she adopted her angry façade from a few minutes ago. “Why didn’t you call us-?”

“I do not want to get the DWMA involved.”

“Why not-?!”

“Liz, if the DWMA fights back, they’ll become a target to Lucifer,” Kid cut her off bluntly. “And if they do… It’s one thing to fight a corrupted human, or a rogue witch. Such individuals work alone or in loose groups. When they don’t… you remember how much trouble it was to get rid of Arachnophobia.”

Liz was still frowning at him but nodded in understanding.

“Lucifer would mobilize Hell itself against the DWMA,” Kid continued. “There are thousands of demons by his side. The demons could possess Meisters and Weapons alike. It is also possible the Devil could force Father himself to attack the DWMA and…” Kid trailed off, while Liz’s expression shifted along with her dawning realization. “We can both guess how that would end.”

“That sounds like fighting the Witches, but the old witch’s got huge ass nukes,” Patty commented as Kid agreed with her choppy but accurate metaphor.

“Fuck me…” the older teen muttered under her breath, as her anger was replaced with terror. “Wait, if it’s the Apocalypse, then that means there’s the other side, Heaven or whatever. Won’t these guys be able to help us out? Can’t be that bad if we get actual angels at our side.”

“From what I’ve been informed, Heaven also wants to rush things along, so they’ll provide no help.” Kid scowled at nothing in particular. “They won’t mind letting humans perish, if it speeds the process up.”

“Fuckers,” Liz cursed under her breath. After a small pause, the sister sighed and turned to the Grim Reaper. “What do we do now?”

“Eh?”

“I know that look,” Liz said in a dry tone. “You’re gonna do something that’ll get you in trouble. Spit it out.”

“The souls here…” Kid began slowly, “the dead have risen.”

Liz narrowed her eyes at the Grim Reaper. “…. That’s your pissed off face, so I’m guessing you’re not happy about that.”

“There are zombies like Sid?" Patty asked.

“Not even close. Professor Barrett was a special case. This time it's... hastily made and purposefully so. The whole process is complex and difficult to go through without going wrong," Kid said, his revulsion more obvious by each passing second. "They may seem like perfectly normal, innocent people, but in reality they're falling towards a pit of Madness, they just haven’t reached the bottom yet."

“You don’t need to explain more, I get it.” Liz stopped herself to rub her temple. “Ugh… I mean I don’t really ‘get’ it, but I know what you mean.” She pulled her hair back to give him a knowing look. “I’m with you through thick and thin, you know that, right?”

“Yeah Kid we’re a team! We help each other out and stuff.”

“Thank you girls,” Kid said as the two glowed in a pink light before transforming into their Weapon forms.

"Ah, man. We just found you and its back to work..."Liz mumbled as she sighed at the familiar feeling of being wielded by the young Grim Reaper.  "You’re a damned slave driver, you know."

Kid gave her a small smile. “It’s good to have you back too, Liz.”

"Let’s go kill some zombies guys~!" Patty cheered from her weapon form. “I’ll keep score! Double points if it’s a headshot~!”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Meanwhile, Dean and Sam had caught up the angels on what was going on, or at least what they thought was going on. The brothers hoped that Anna or Cas would have some sort of insight to add into the conversation, when considering Heaven’s place in the afterlife.

“I can’t offer any advice,” Cas said the moment the two hunters finished their retelling of previous events.

“oh come on!” Dean protested. “Not even a one-liner?”

“We do not deal with souls directly,” Anna replied. “It is forbidden.”

“By whom?” Sam asked.

“Bet you his name starts with ‘D’ and rhymes with ‘breath’,” Dean remarked.

“Souls have many properties we are not… aware of. They are intricate, but that’s all we know,” the male angel admitted. “I’m sorry Dean, but the only advise I can offer is listen to the one who already deals with souls.”

“Kid lied to us,” Sam stated.

“Probably because he guessed how you’d react,” Anna muttered.

“Hey, if you could down the holier-than-thou sass that’d be much appreciated,” Dean shot back.

During their exchange, Sam’s phone, who was charging via a handmade contraption which connected to the car’s battery, started ringing.

The younger hunter frowned and picked up the device. “It’s Bobby.”

Dean and Anna ceased their brief battle of witty species condescension to focus on Sam.

“What does he want?” Dean asked.

Sam shrugged in response and answered the phone. "Bobby?"

"Jody called me again. Asked about you two..." The man trailed off. “Where are you?”

“On Dean’s car. We’re heading for a place to crash,” he lied.

“And you haven’t seen the young Reaper?” Bobby asked with some urgency in his voice.

“No, why?”

Dean, who couldn’t hear the exchange, had his gaze fixed on Sam. The younger hunter glanced at his brother while he spoke. "Bobby what happened?"

There was a small pause and for a second Sam feared the line had gone dead.

"Clay Thompson has been found dead," Bobby eventually replied.

Sam’s eyes widened. “Tell us when and where,” he said, ignoring Dean’s increasingly confused look.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The ‘crime’ had happened at Clay Thompson’s house, which was a giant red flag. When they arrived, Cas and Anna stayed back and observed. Dean and Sam moved through the gathered crowd, careful not to attract the Sherriff’s attention who was observing a particular spot in the back of the house.

As they went around the house, they noticed a woman on the porch. She was blonde and her eyes were puffy and red. She was wrapped in a big fuzzy blanket and shot frightful looks at the officers and the gathered crowd.

“The wife,” Dean muttered under his breath.

Careful not to attract attention the two brothers made their way towards the woman. When she noticed the two, she initially jumped but calmed down once she gave them a close look.

“You’re the FBI agents aren’t you?” she began. “Please, you have to do something!” she continued, her words frantic and fearful.

“What happened?” Sam managed to say in between the woman’s rants.

“There was, there was an intruder!” the woman uttered, wrapping herself tighter with her blanket. “Poor Clay, he had just come back, and now…” she choked and looked away from where the Sheriff and her men were.

From what little they could see without alerting Jody, Clay’s body was in a strange situation. His body, though already in a state of decomposition, did not have any new wounds.

“Mrs…” Sam hesitantly began as he moved closer to the sobbing woman.

“Cathy.”

“Right, Cathy. Did you see the intruder?”

“Yes,” she replied, a bit calmer, “but they were covered from head to toe in a black cloak and had two guns…” she trailed off, playing with the ends of her blanket.

“A black cloak?” Dean repeated.

“Yes,” the woman repeated. “They… they had a small frame, I think. Thin, a bit tall…”

Sam had to swallow a lump in his throat before he spoke. “Did you see the culprit’s face?”

The woman shook her head. “No, officers. It was the black cloak, somehow I couldn’t catch a glimpse of their face. Though…”

“Yes?” Sam asked, on the edge of his seat.

“I think…” she shot a frightful glance at where her husband’s body lay. “I think I saw some black hair protruding from the cape. And…” she gulped, “this may sound strange, but my husband came back from the dead and I lost him again, so maybe I am going mad…”

“What did you see Cathy?” Dean insisted.

“The intruder… “The woman looked up to face their gazes. Her eyes were wide, like a lamb facing a butcher’s knife.

“They had yellow glowing eyes.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

After thanking the woman for her trouble, the hunter duo made their way back to the car, where Cas and Anna were waiting, hands crossed.

“It’s Kid,” Dean stated the moment they were out of earshot from the crowd. “It’s 100% Kid.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Sam began but stopped when he looked at Dean’s deep frown. “Dean?”

“What’s going on?” Cas asked.

Dean walked away from the Impala to face a decrepit old mail post. “Dammit!” he hissed while kicking the old structure. “He went fucking rogue.”

“Who did?”

“Kid, who else?” Dean snapped. “And if you have nothing to offer you might as well leave.”

Cas stepped back, an unreadable expression on his face. Anna simply raised an eyebrow.

“So…” Sam said, briefly ignoring the two angels. “Do we get the zombies first, or after the Reaper?”

"... We're hunters, Sam," Dean replied. "We put humanity first."

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

In the next few hours there was another report of a murder. After a brief talk with Bobby, Anna had remarked how there had to be a pattern, upon which Sam recalled that the two undead-now-dead-again victims were amongst the first who had risen up.

After a bit more on-the-fly googling and asking around, Sam had learned that an old woman living next to an old warehouse was among those who had first come back to life. Deciding this was as good of a clue as any, the two hunters set camp outside the woman’s house. Anna had resisted them along the way, until Dean told her in no polite terms that she had no obligation to stay.

“I should have gone through with my original plan,” was the last thing Anna said before she disappeared. Cas had thrown her a worried look and followed after, after making sure that was alright with the two hunters.

As the night was drawing closer, Sam noticed a shadow make its way through the houses. The two had immediately reached for the weapons as the dark figure approached.

“I know you’re there,” a familiar voice called out.

Sam grimaced while Dean cursed under his breath. “Dammit I forgot about his Soul-thingy-”

The older hunter gritted his teeth and exited his cover, gun in the air. “Good, so you know what we’re here to do.”

The Grim Reaper was wearing a black cloak and his face was obscured by a white mask which bore an uncanny resemblance to a jawless human skull. Had they not known that it was Kid under the disguise, the two hunters could have easily mistaken him for a supernatural creature they hadn’t encountered yet.

“Stop me I presume,” the boy said as he faced them unmoving. His hands were beneath the uniform black cloak, yet the brothers knew he was wielding two guns from the woman’s confession.

“Dude, you look like a rejected Disney villain,” Dean quipped, much to everyone else’s exasperation. “You can’t expect me to think you’re not up to no good.”

The boy let out a sigh as he pushed the mask to one side of his head, revealing an annoyed expression. “Dean, Sam, for goodness sake trust me on this-”

“Our job-” Sam began.

“I don’t care!” Kid cut him off. “People’s lives are at stake and the balance had been thrown off. We’re going to deal with this crisis precisely and perfectly or so help me-!”

“You’re killing people,” Sam cut the boy off in reciprocation.

“I’m stopping them from going mad!” the Grim Reaper replied in indignation. “I don’t want to fight you!”

“Then give it up, Kid,” Sam warned, reaching for his shotgun.

Kid gave him a scandalized look. “And let the town get massacred?!”

“No one’s being hurt-” Dean started.

“Yet!” the boy interrupted him. “I know about this more than you do, and this town is a time-bomb waiting to go off! As a Grim Reaper, it’s my responsibility-!”

“That man had a wife, a family-!”

“A family who would be killed the moment he turned!”

“So that’s why you’re trying to kill an 80-year-old grandma now?!”

Kid’s face hardened. He crouched, the clack parting to reveal the gun he wielded at each arm. “If you’re going to try and stop me, then let’s get this over with already.”

Sam cocked his shotgun, while Dean removed the safety from his semiautomatic.

“Oi, Kid,” came Liz’s voice, causing everyone to pause, “are these the two jackasses that you said you worked with?”

“Did…” Dean stammered. “Did the gun just _talk_?”

“I heard it too,” Sam added in disbelief.

“Heyo~” came a second voice from Kid’s side.

“And that was the other gun. Which also talked.” Dean readied handgun. “Yup, this is a bad dream. We are not actually fighting a Grim Reaper wielding two talking guns.”

“As if this is the weirdest situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Sam muttered.

Dean smirked as he pointed his gun at Kid. “So, are we gonna have a shoot-out? Didn’t have you for the cowboy type.”

Kid didn’t reply, his face a stony serious mask. The guns remained silent as well.

Just as Dean was about to push his luck and pull the trigger, aiming at the boy’s leg, when Kid stepped back, briefly vanishing from view behind debris from the abandoned warehouse nearby.

He didn’t appear from the other side.

Dean gave his brother a look before the two approached the pile of wood and rocks from either side.

“One more thing before we go all Mortal Kombat on each other…” Dean said in a low tone before the two brothers parted. “Is it just me, or are the hairs in your neck standing up too?”

“We’re fighting a Grim Reaper, Dean.”

“Right. So bad life choices it is.” The older hunter said, both of them inspecting their surroundings with raised guns.

The moved around the pile, guns out and pointed at the moving shadows -hopefully a figment of their imagination.

It was a bit of a shock when the two hunters circled the debris completely and found no clue of the Grim Reaper. Sam looked around until his eyes fell to the old warehouse.

Dean followed his brother’s gaze and his face fell.

“Oh this can’t be good.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The two brothers had made their way into the old warehouse, pushing through dusty and rotten wooden boards. They both had flashlights, yet they only thing they saw were countless dust particles as they made their way further in the half-collapsed building.

 “This is unnerving,” Sam whispered to Dean.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m in one of those schlocky horror movies.” The elder hunter clicked his tongue. “We just need a chick that screams-”

A bright pink shot came from the shadow and hit Dean on his right shoulder, followed by two more rapid shot to the legs. The older hunter reflexively dropped his gun as he fell down, letting out an uncharacteristically high-pitched shriek.

“Dean-!” Sam shouted, shooting blindly at the dark corners of the house. After emptying his magazine case, he ran where his brother lay, simultaneously reloading the gun. The young Winchester let out a breath of relief when he saw his brother was groaning, but still alive.

The relief was short-lived when two more shots came from behind him, hitting his right hand and left leg. Sam let out a cry as the shots burned, unlike any other wound he had received. It felt like his heart stopped, a dark presence spreading throughout his being…

It was all gone the next second.

The younger hunter found himself gasping for air but very much alive. He raised his throbbing hand only to see woundless skin. Sam hissed as another throb of pain washed through him and clutched the appendage. Groaning, he sat up and rolled up his trousers’ sleeve. His eyebrows shot up in surprise when he discovered there was no wound.

“Dean,” Sam called out instinctively, looking to where his brother was slowly sitting up.

Dean’s reply was a long confused groan, as he pulled off his jacket and tugged at his shirt’s neckline to inspect his shoulder. “Hey, where you got shot, does it hurt like hell but you also can’t find a wound?”

“Yeah…”

“Great. For all we fucking now that did damage to our souls or something.”

“It’s nothing they can’t heal,” a calm voice said as Kid stepped out of the dark, still clad in his black robe. The mask was missing this time.

“Gee thanks, I’m so grateful,” Dean spat back. “Say, how about you stop acting like a B-movie villain-”

Kid scowled. “I’m not-” the Grim Reaper began but paused when he felt a hand firmly grab his shoulder. Sam’s flashlight fell on Kid revealing a tall man behind him, with shadows of enormous wings protruding from his back.

“I suggest,” came Castiel’s deadly calm voice, “you don’t do something you’ll regret.”

A few moments passed as stood up straighter. The Grim Reaper raised his hands, empty palm extending outwards.

Sam frowned. “Hey didn’t you have two guns-?”

A pink bullet got the angel at the back of his head. The celestial being cried out his pan and lurched forwards, breaking his hold on the Grim Reaper. Kid used the distraction to twist out of Castiel’s hold, throwing the angel right onto the two hunters. The boy turned to the direction where they shot came, to see a young blonde teen having her gun pointed at the two humans and angel.

Patty let out a bubbly laugh. “Headshot~”

The Grim Reaper gave the two a small smile as he stood straighter up.

There was a whooshing sound and Kid felt a presence much closer than it should. He had barely turned around when he felt a hand reach out for the exposed skin on his neck. A faint light was coming from it, characteristic of an angelic Wavelength. The Grim Reaper’s power instinctually manifested in defense, shadows cackling under the touch.

Castiel released the hold on his power and Kid found himself doing the same. What followed was an impressive mini lightshow of light against dark that ended with both inhumans lying semi-unconscious on the floor.

“Kid!” Liz yelled as the two sisters headed to the fallen Grim Reaper.

“Castiel!” Dean shouted as the brothers headed to the kneeling angel.

The Grim Reaper stood up with difficulty, first on all fours then on twos with the help of the two girls.

Liz hissed when she saw bright steams of light eat away through the boy’s skin. “Crap, you alright?”

“We got a dose of each other’s Wavelengths…”

The boy hissed as he brought a hand to his neck where majority of the glowing wound was. The torn tissue around it was slowly mending, dark lines slowly overtaking the white and leaving only smooth pale skin in their wake.

On the other side of the room, Castiel seemed to be in an equally bad state. The angel was breathing heavily and had barely managed to sit up. He was clutching his arm in pain, and from what was visible he had suffered the most damage. The skin was blistered and covered in a dark subdermal substance.

“Castiel,” Sam said in worry as he eyed the wound and grimaced.

“I’m…” the angel made a false start as he took a sharp breath. “I need some time.”

“Don’t die on me pal,” Dean said with a slight bit of hysteria in his voice.

“He’ll live,” Kid spoke up from where he was, attracting the brothers’ attention. “His soul is fighting against a Grim Reaper’s Wavelength. It’ll take time to heal.” The Grim Reaper was tactful enough not to mention that in all cases such a thing had happened -aka when Kid found himself in such danger that he instinctually fought back- the attacker ended up dead.

Dean looked between Castiel and Kid conflicted. He supported the angel in one hand while he reached out for his fallen gun.

“Don’t even think about it buddy,” Liz growled as Patty was engulfed in a bright pink light before manifesting in her Weapon form in Liz’s free hand.

Sam threw his brother and the angel a worried look before he turned to the other trio. “Let’s all calm down…” he began. “What happened?” he asked hoping to ease the tension.

“From what I got they both freaked out and blasted each other,” Liz answered.

“I did not freak out,” Castiel calmly protested.

“Dude, I saw you little wing trick. I’ve been hanging out with Grim Reapers long enough to know that when someone is posturing, it’s because they don’t wanna fight.”

“How did they attack each other?” Sam asked.

“Soul Wavelength, or our soul’s power in layman’s terms,” Kid grunted, as he leaned onto the sisters for support. “Castiel used the raw power of his Wavelength to cause damage. My Wavelength is damage.”

“You’re both alive,” Dean stated, slowly lowering his gun.

“It’s hard to kill a Grim Reaper, even for an angel. As for me, my reaction was very… spur of the moment.”

“That’s code for freaking out too,” Liz said in a conspiratorial manner towards the three men, while Patty transformed back into her human form.

  
“And you two were the guns,” Sam said as he watched the transformation.

“Leave them out of this,” Kid warned them but was cut short by a harmless slap to the back of his neck.

“Oi, I said we’re sticking with you, don’t make me repeat myself you little brat.” She gave him a small concerned look. “Can you walk or do you still need my support?”

“No I should be fine…” Kid slowly said as he disentangled himself from the sisters, finding some mostly solid footing.

“Good, now let’s see if we can salvage this mess.” And with that, Liz smoothed her jacket and strode over to the men.

“Ok, then, seems we got off the wrong foot.” She offered her hand. “I’m Liz. This is my sister Patty,” she said while pointing back to the other girl.

Sam gave her a long look, before eventually shaking her hand. “I’m Sam. This is my brother Dean and uh…” He paused, his frown deepening by the second. “What are you?”

“Sis and I are Weapons! We shot Soul Wavelengths!” Patty happily explained, which only resulted in further confusion in the hunter and angel trio. “Kid and Liz can adjust it so our bullets don’t kill folks! I can’t make our bullets non-lethal though, so you’re lucky Liz was the one who shot you angel-face~!”

“Uh…”

“We can’t waste time here,” Kid said with urgency. “We have to get the rest before they…” the boy paused, freezing in place.

“Oi,” Dean said, itching for a gun in his hand. Despite the way things had gone, they weren’t anywhere close to reaching an agreement.

Without warning, the Grim Reaper’s head snapped upwards, as one of the wooden beams creaked under an unknown weight. “Above you-!”

A mangled cry echoed above the trio of hunters and angels as a black figure descended upon them. Cas used his remaining strength to push the brother’s away, the same time the mangled moving body of an old woman fell upon him and her teeth bit at his flesh.

Cas let out a hiss of pain as he grabbed the woman’s jaw and forced it open, the inhuman creature letting out a gurgled cry as it was thrown aside. Dean and Sam were scrambling for their weapons while Kid was moving forwards when all of a sudden a gunshot echoed and the woman’s head exploded into a shower of gore.

Patty let out a small string of laughter from where she was holding Liz’s Weapon form. “That was the lethal shot~”

After making sure Cas wasn’t going to die on them for a second time, the two brothers looked over to where the old woman’s unmoving body lay and then to one another.

Kid sighed at the sight. “Do you trust me now?”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The next hour was very hectic for the six beings, seven after being joined by Anna. The female angel claimed she was pleasantly surprised the two groups hadn’t killed each other and explained she had stayed out of the fighting since she was a neutral party. Despite a few dirty looks from Dean and Sam, Cas had shrugged and said that what he would have done if he was in her position.

After a bit more catching up on both sides, Dean and Sam had fully come around to the idea that the zombies in this city were a ticking time bomb. Dean had also mentioned that if Kid even implied an ‘I-told-you-so’ remark, they’d be back to shooting each other.

“So, who’s next on the list?” Sam asked Kid, flinching at his last word.

“We have go to Mrs Mills.”

“The one with the dead zombie kid?” Sam asked as he drove the Impala down the road. The only way the seven of them fitted in the car was with the two newcomers transforming into Weapons -which the two brothers still had no idea about.

The Grim Reaper nodded. “We don’t have much time.”

“Great.” Dean frowned as he stepped on the gas.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

As soon as they arrived Kid exited the car via window, not even bothering to open the door. Sam and the angels exited as quickly as they could, while Dean took a few ore second in order to make sure he turned off the engine.

Without a word, Kid lunged through the window of the house and barreled straight into a young boy who had just bitten through his father’s wrist and tried to claw his way to the man’s neck.

As the little kid wildly flailed and the father was a mess -literally and figuratively- Kid tackled the undead child to the floor.

“Owen?” the Sherriff called as she run in, only to see her frantic husband and her assaulted child. “Hey, what are you doing to Sawn, you little-!”

“Jody, stay back!” her husband shouted, reaching out with his bitten and bloody armed.

Jody paused in shock and confusion, as she noticed at her husband’s wound. “What?”

Meanwhile, the undead child had slipped from Kid’s hold, letting out a fearful hiss as it retreated upstairs. The Grim Reaper let out a low curse as he continued his pursuit, ignoring the befuddled couple.

“Sawn came after me, he tried to kill me,” the man quickly said, “Jody that’s not our kid.”

Then Sam and Dean barged in through the front door, letting a relieved sigh when they saw the couple was safe.

“You two need to get out of here now,” Dean began.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

 “What’s gonna happen to Sawn-? Who was that?!”

“That wasn’t your son-” Sam said.

“What do you mean, he was there, I cared for him-!”

“The dead are meant to stay dead Sherriff.” Dean cut her off. “Let them stay too long and they lose themselves.”

“This was…” the man began, “this really was too good to be true…”

The woman looked among them in shock, not noticing the man and woman who watched the whole scenario dispassionately. In slow realization, Jody brought her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes in grief.

Behind them a few gunshots echoed and their surroundings became deadly silent.

“Ok,” Sam said, causing the couple to jump, “we need to get everyone to a safe place, everyone in this town is in danger-”

“The jail,” Jody stated, clutching her husband’s arm. “Bring as many people as you can inside, and tell others to barricade in their homes. I’ll-We’ll…” Jody shook her head as if to clear her head. “We’ll get the place ready.”

“We’ll get the car,” the husband offered as the couple numbly made their way to a well-kept convertible.

As the car moved away, the two hunters looked back towards the house where a dark figure emerged. The two chose not to comment on the small bloodstains on the edges of the black cloak.

“This is going too fast,” Kid muttered.

“Is there anything we can do?” Castiel asked.

“I can try setting up a counter-ritual to what Father did but…”

Dean raised an eyebrow, “But what, do you need something-?”

Kid shook his head. “Not much, I just need to use my powers, properly say the incantation,” Kid paused. “However, If I do perform the ritual, Lucifer is going to discover my existence.”

“So what?” Dean asked.

The Grim Reaper frowned. “There’s a good reason to keep my existence a secret. If Lucifer or Heaven do find out there is a second Grim Reaper loose, do you think they’ll just let that opportunity go by without doing anything?”

“You mean they’ll try and go all Lucifer on you and try to bind you?” Sam suggested. “That’s…”

Kid crossed his arms. “It’s possible. I’m not looking forward to testing that rumor out.”

“I don’t get it,” Dean said. “Couldn’t they have done that already?”

“If they had tried I doubt I’d still be here. Besides, from what I know the Ritual has a heavy cost so they’re no reason to perform it on mere suspicion…”

“As if the angels care for a bunch of unlucky humans,” Sam scoffed. “Why haven’t they tried?”

“Because it is not what has been foretold,” Anna cut him off.

“They’re doing lots of things that weren’t foretold,” Sam answered back, “including causing the Apocalypse-”

“It’s not the same!”

Sam rolled his eyes at the angel.

Dean looked between Sam and Anna in hesitation before turning to the Reaper. “Kid, you shouldn’t-”

“He won’t,” came a voice from Ki’s right-hand gun and Dean swore he saw a face reflected on the metal. “I didn’t travel throughout all America only to get you captured. We’re doing this without a ritual, the good old fashioned way.”

Kid frowned as he looked around, gaze unfocused. “There’s a lot of people…”

“The Sheriff has already put the town in high alert,” Dean offered, and Sam nodded. “We’ll take care of a fair share too. It’s time go out there and do our jobs.”

“Hehehehe…” came Patty’s metallic laughter, “it’ll be like a zombie game!”

“Uh I have one last question, actually.” Dean spoke up as he gave Kid one of his serious looks. “Why Doodlebop?”

In the background, Sam groaned as Castiel and Anna exchanged confused looks.

Kid’s frame slumped. “Father found it funny.”

Dean stared for a second and then shrugged.  “I’ll just go reload the shotgun.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Hey,” came Liz’s voice as Kid ran through the town, homing on in the closest undead. “I got one question before we go all Left 4 Dead.”

“Shoot ahead,” kid said, finding a bit of humor at his accidental wordplay.

“I know you’re sticking with those two cause of their vessel situation with the Devil,” Liz began. “But the two look like they’d rather drink poison than accept your help. What’s their deal?”

“I’m not sure,” Kid responded, rounding up in a well-kept suburban house. “They’re hunters and their kind usually has an irrational fear and anger at the inhuman, these two emotions often complement each other. I’m guessing these two have not had many pleasant experiences with non-humans, sans angels.”

Liz snorted. “Using Angels is cheating. Still, you should be careful.”

“I know,” Kid replied as he kicked in the backdoor, where he sensed a family of three were trying to fend off an advancing undead teenager. “I could feel their desire to kill me the moment I met them.”

“To be fair, Patty and I did try to actually kill you when we first met, since you were acting like a smug asshole,” Liz snidely said as she felt herself being pointed straight at the zombie’s head. “Maybe you should work on your introduction skills?”

Kid rolled his eyes and pulled the trigger.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

For many, the night went by in an agonizingly slow manner. People were escorted out of their homes, and into the jailhouse where anyone who knew how to use a gun was armed and told to watch out for the undead and shoot anything that shouldn’t breathe.

Jody was barking orders left and right, phones ringing from people in danger, those who had been just visited by a certain cloaked individual or just generally wanting to know what the hell was going on. Her husband was helping guiding the people through the safehouse, trying his best to distract his mind from what had happened earlier during the night.

Castiel and Anna weren’t quite sure what to do. They didn’t have any real motivation to help the people, but an obligation to their team lead to them in reinforcing the barriers with a few sneakily hid in angel charms and occasionally fly a person out of harm’s way. They didn’t outright attack the zombies, since that would lead to a broken mind, and the angels did not purge without discretion.

Dean and Sa mowed their way through hordes and zombies, empty shells falling left and right while hatchet’s knives and makeshift projectiles sprayed blood everywhere. The two brothers were one of the main attraction for the undead, as they clawed their way through pavement and dirt, until the two were cornered in an abandoned backyard. After a few agonizing moments in which they felt like dead men walking, gunshots echoed and zombies fell, to reveal one mad slowly wheeling his way towards them with grief in his eyes.

As for Kid and the sisters…

It would take many showers to completely remove all the blood.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid rubbed a towel at his wet hair, having come out of a shower for the umpteenth time. The boy wore a simple white shirt and black pants, his skin still cold from the cool water.

Close to him, a snoring Liz and Patty took up a large couch, sleeping in opposite sides from one another. After a quick shower -and only one, since there were still traces of blood on their person- the duo crashed on the first available surface, snuggling with the blankets. The two deserved a good rest after the long night that had preceded.

On the other side of the room, Dean was half-asleep on an armchair while Sam was reading though one of Bobby’s books. The contact between Kid and the hunters had been minimal after the night, with only a customary checkup to make sure the other wasn’t slowly bleeding to death.

As for Castiel and Anna, the two had left shortly after it was obvious most of the town was safe. Neither Dean or Sam felt like calling them back.

“Mr Singer,” the boy spoke up when the man entered the room. Bobby gave him a curt nod but dis little else to recognize the Grim Reaper’s presence.

 “My condolences,” the boy continued.

The man sharply shook his head and looked away. Kid held back a groan as he leaned back on the armchair. He still had a lot of gathered frustration about the events that had transpired, both for himself and for the others.

“…You look like you need to rest.”

“I’m fine,” Kid snapped at the younger brother. Dean immediately reached for his gun but then relaxed his grip as the Grim Reaper fell back into the couch rubbing his forehead.

In a couch away, Liz let a loud snore as she rolled in her sleep.

“Sorry,” Kid eventually said, attracting the men’s attention and causing Dean to focus on the real world. “For everything. For the mess back then…”

“Oi listen up,” Dean began after some consideration. “Not your fault. You didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly! I should have moved preemptively-”

“Then people would think you were the bad guy.”

“It wouldn’t matter!”

Bobby dropped a heavy pile of books he was holding on the table with a resounding thump that silences the hunters and Grim Reaper. “Listen here. What happened, happened and there’s no use looking back. You think you should have moved differently? Well, boo-hoo my wife would die either way.” The man turned to his books as he began to sort them though his bookshelf. “Besides, you and I both know why Death was here.”

Dean frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The reason why the dead were brought back in the first place. It’s not a coincidence that this town was the one Death visited.” Bobby looked over to the young Grim Reaper. “I’m sure he told you why, the same way he told my wife.”

“This is news to us…” Sam carefully said, as if trying to catch a particularly venomous snake.

“Death did this to get to me. He wanted me to stop supporting you to, especially you Sam, since I’m one of the reasons you keep saying no to Lucifer.”

“That’s not what Father wanted to say,” Kid said, his voice low but steady.

Dean and Sam looked over to Kid while Bobby put down the book he was holding and crossed his arms.

“Really?” the man said in an antagonistic tone. “That wasn’t what Karen said Death told her.”

“That was the message Lucifer wanted Father to say,” Kid insisted. “The Devil does not speak for Father, nor will he ever.”

Bobby huffed. “And what would he really like to say?” The man let out small bitter laugh. “Wise empty words about how ‘it’s ok to mourn’ and that ‘you’ll get over it’? Spare an old man-”

“Apologize, actually.”

Sam blinked. “He wants to say he’s sorry?”

Kid nodded. “His hand was forced and beyond his control. Father knows how people react to death, and the loss of loved ones. He is sorry he opened the old wounds of the people of this town.”

Bobby still gave him a disbelieving glare, though this didn’t’ held the same level of anger as before. “He empathizes?”

“…I’m not sure.” Kid paused in thought. “I don’t know if grief work the same way for us as it works for humans. But he’s lived a long time. And even though I’m young, our acquaintances tend to lead dangerous lives.”

“So you’ve both lost people,” Dean concluded.

Kid’s gaze briefly flickered to where Liz and Patty slept. “One of the things I dread is having to collect the soul of someone I care about, whose life was cut short. I think father feels the same.”

Bobby huffed again, though this time it was one of resignation. His next words caused Kid to freeze in place and get the urge to have another long shower.

“He is probably glad that he won’t outlive you, boy.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcannon is that Kid calls Death ‘dad’ whenever he’s unconsciously referring to him. He mostly uses father out of respect, but switches to dad in emotionally charged moments. Death is the opposite, usually referring to Kid as ‘kiddo’ while reserving ‘son’ for the more serious and sincere moments between the two.  
> Also, while searching for names for the fake ID’s I stumbled upon Doodlebop as an actual registered name and it was too perfect not to use.


	6. Preach the Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, a huge apology for the delay. Originally this chapter was supposed to adapt the Dark Side Of The Moon episode. However, no matter how many different angles I tried approaching it, I couldn’t think of how to make the episode work within the parameters of this fic. I had some ideas but there would be little new revelations/forwarding the plot and the chapter would just end up reiterating the episode too close for comfort. So, for the purposes of consistency and quality Dark Side Of The Moon is being skipped (basically never happened in this AU). This chapter takes place during 99 Problems and is almost 25,000 words long, so settle in your most comfortable piece of furniture with your beverage of choice and enjoy!
> 
> Also, just a heads up, this chapter features an increased use of curse words, including one which is quite severe if you’re from the US.

“So, is that what you’ve been doing during the past month?” Liz asked as the trio made their way back to the Impala. “Travelling to bum-fuck nowhere and staying in motels?”

The older Thompson looked at the small buildings surrounding them, unimpressed. Even though it had just been an hour since they left Sioux Falls, Liz and Patty had been caught up to speed by Kid, who expanded more on what he had been doing this past month.

“Yes.” Kid replied, currently holding an even number of plastic bags filled with groceries, mostly ready meals, in both hands. They had the Impala in sight, and he sensed the two brothers’ souls in a shop on the far end of the road. “I even stopped a few people from dying, ironically.”

Liz raised an eyebrow, tilting her head at the approaching Winchesters, who had just left the store and headed where the Meister and Weapon group was. “You’ve been busy. Those two, or others?”

“Both. The Winchesters have a propensity for finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is exactly what we need to do to stop this mess.”

“That explains why they’re so jumpy,” Liz said absentmindedly as she watched the two brothers. They were walking fast and Dean frequently threw quick looks around him, as if someone was about to jump them at any moment. It reminder Liz of her younger years, wielding Patty with a scowl on her face and surveying their turf for any intruders.

Kid gave them a light shrug. “I think that’s partly because of us. They were worse when I first joined them, though they’ve been warming up. Slowly.”

The Grim Reaper wasn’t lying about that. Though the Winchesters weren’t that hostile to Liz and Patty as they first were Kid, they did not welcome the sisters with open arms. It had been apparent since they were in Bobby’s house, with Dean and Sam watching the two sisters like hawks, as if they were about to transform into guns and go on a shooting spree.

This did not go unnoticed by the Thompsons who were quick about pointing that out, mostly by Liz who was having none of that ‘passive-aggressive bullshit’, as per the older blonde’s words. This had led to a long but and mostly painless mock-interrogations session where the brothers tried to get as much information out of the Thompsons as possible. Most of their questions were about the girls’ ability to transform into a Weapon, though a few questions about how they met and why they worked with a Grim Reaper came up as well.

For the former, the sisters had kept their mouths shut about the whole Weapon shtick after quick prompting from Kid. For all the Winchesters knew, the Thompson sisters were just two very unusual humans. That hadn’t stopped from Sam ‘accidentally’ spilling Holy Water on Liz before she went to have another shower to get the last remnants of blood out, or Patty getting up from the couch and finding herself surrounded by a circle of salt -the young girl had then proclaimed a ‘salt art competition’ and proceeded to make a drawing of a giraffe on the floor.

As for the latter, the sisters only gave them the bare bones of how they met up Kid, that they had tried to mug him and later ended up working together as a team.

“What do you mean, ‘work as a team’? What do you guys do?” Sam had promptly asked after Liz’s summary.

Liz had given Sam a small smirk. “Hey, you ain’t spilling your life story to me, why should I do that?”

“Yeah, gossip’s bad!” Patty had followed up on her sister’s remark.

After a couple of more hours of trying to chip through the brick wall that was the Thompson sisters, the Winchesters called it quits and decided that since Kid hadn’t killed them already, he had little reason to start doing so now and so did his allies. After that, Bobby had informed them that there were some strange happenings on the Minnesota border with Iowa. The brothers were ready to leave within minutes, looking for any excuse to get out of Sioux Falls as fast as possible, with the trio following suit.

Right now, they were on a resupply stop. Kid, Liz and Patty were relegated to food duty, with Dean grumbling about ‘feeding too many mouths’ and handing them one of his many credit cards.

Liz let out a sigh. Things were moving too fast; just half a day ago she and her sister had located Kid, and now they were being dragged on an interstate trip to stop the Apocalypse. The girl needed time to process it all, catch up with Kid and make sure her Meister was holding up alright, not to mention get in touch with the DWMA, though she had no idea what to tell the latter because of Kid’s insistence on secrecy.

The majority of the older Thompson’s inner turmoil was from the latter part, actually. She wanted nothing more than to get in touch with the Academy and reassure their friends and other staff that Kid was safe. When Death and Kid went missing, the entire city and DWMA found itself in a constant state of worry and chaos, and the last thing Liz wanted to do was go off-grid and have them worrying about her and Patty as well. However, from what Kid had told her, if the DWMA got involved in this Apocalypse mess things could go from bad to catastrophic. Telling the folks back to home to hold off would be in vain; maybe the more level-headed members of their group like Stein, would listen, but others like Black*Star, Spirit, and even Maka and Soul would insist on helping, going as far as to outright start demon-hunting. And if the demons with Lucifer in charge got wind of that…

Liz let out another heavy sigh, attracting Kid’s attention.

“Is everything alright, Liz?”

The older Thompson was about to respond, but she took notice of how Sam and Dean were almost to their location, within hearing range. Liz’s face morphed into a slight scowl, before sighing for the third time. “I’ll tell you later,” she said, giving a pointed look at the two brothers.

Kid followed her gaze and went silent, just when Sam and Dean acknowledged them with a gesture.

“Got the good stuff?” Dean asked, eyeing the grocery bag and taking his credit card back from Kid. “Alright, let’s hit the road.”

After organising the ammo and putting the grocery in the trunk, Liz found herself on the right side of the backseat, with Kid in the middle and Patty on the left. She tried to get herself comfortable on the leather seat, knowing that any conversation she, Patty and Kid would have thus far would be superficial.

The next hours were bound to be boring.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

About an hour later, Liz found herself being pointed at a human -no, their eyes were black and they had dodged a punch that cracked pavement- and she wasn’t sure if this sort of excitement was any better than the dull lull of travelling through Minnesotan fields.

Kid’s wavelength, a menacing black colour but familiar and harmless to her, welled in her barrel and mixed with hers, before being fired off and through the demon’s head, making the possessed man let out an inhuman cry of pain and collapse on the pavement.

Patty let out a victorious whoop. Liz didn’t share her enjoyment, more concerned about the fact they were fighting actual demons.

They had been ambushed. After about another hour of travelling, they came across a burning truck blocking the road. The five had immediately gone on high alert, the brothers reaching for their guns, Liz and Patty transforming into their Weapon form, while Kid had activated his Soul Perception and yelled that demons were approaching.

“The demon is still possessing him,” the Grim Reaper stated as he walked up and regarded the fallen man, who looked like a middle-aged accountant.

“Can’t we get them out?” Patty asked.

“Maybe.” Kid took careful aim, between the man’s heart and neck but did not fire. He kept slightly adjusting his aim as if following a moving target. His irises were dilated in a fashion that Liz associated with the use of his Soul Perception.

He was also only using Liz to aim, which gave the girl an indication that he was going for accuracy. Though the girls’ Weapon forms and the way they functioned were identical, there were slight differences in their attributes. Liz’s accuracy was better, whereas Patty had greater strength and stopping power behind her bullets. In most cases, these differences were negligible, and it didn’t matter which one of them Kid used. To do so now, meant that whatever the Grim Reaper was going for required utmost precision.

Eventually, Kid fired a single shot and a spray of black erupted from where the pink bullet hit flesh, despite the lack of any wound. The man’s back arched, and wisps of black smoke emerged from his mouth, nostrils and eyes, before dissipating into thin air. The human let out a shuddering breath but remained unconscious.

“What happened?” Patty asked.

“I aimed at the demon’s soul, so they would let go of the human’s body,” Kid responded, still focused on the man. “Though, I’m not sure if that killed the demon, or made them return to hell. Probably the latter since we’re not using lethal bullets.”

A cry from Sam caused them to focus on the ongoing battle. A couple of meters away, Dean and Sam were firing and slashing away at the demons. The Impala was on their back, but they were surrounded by demons and Sam was clutching his bleeding shoulder.

“Guy had company,” Liz muttered, her scowling face reflecting on the side of her Weapon form.

“Let’s go take them out~!”

Kid nodded at the sister’s remarks and took careful aim. If he was reckless, he could end up shooting a human soul. Even though he wasn’t using enough of his Wavelength to make the bullets lethal, there was enough of his Grim Reaper Wavelength in them to cause permanent damage. He aimed Patty at the demons’ extremities, lowering the chance of the bullet accidentally hitting the human soul, while pointing Liz at the epicentres of the dark mists -the demons’ souls.

After one of their compatriots fell, the demons noticed the third party fighting and two of them, a middle-aged and an elderly woman, lunged at Kid. The Grim Reaper barely dodged a knife aimed at his throat, causing him to lose his aim.

Kid gritted his teeth, using Patty as a tonfa to sock the closest demon in the jaw, before taking aim with Liz and firing roughly where the second demon’s soul was.

Both demons fell down, though the first one recovered almost immediately and lunged at Kid, as if trying to bite the boy’s neck off. Kid stepped back and brought Patty up, her barrel coming in contact with the possessed human’s collarbone.

“Lemme at ‘em!” Patty said with a menacing giggle.

Kid pressed the trigger and the demon collapsed, black smoke coming out of the body as it collapsed on the pavement.

“She ain’t breathing,” Liz said, mildly disturbed when the fallen woman’s chest remained stationary.

“She was already dead,” Kid responded matter-of-factly. He pointed Liz at the second demon, the possessed elderly lady slowly beginning to get up, before firing and watching as she collapsed with disoriented black smoke coming out of her orifices. “This one isn’t.”

Liz didn’t respond immediately, her lips a thin line as her gaze travelled over to where the brothers were fighting their own battle, where they were dodging knives and various other projectiles as if they were circus performers. “Let’s get the rest-“

Kid’s eyes went wide as he turned his head to the side of the road opposite to the burning truck. “Liz, Patty, transform back!”

The sisters did as told, though a bit confused as to why. This was just in time, as a car which looked like it belonged in a pious Mad Max movie rolled up to them, its sharp headlamps temporarily blinding the trio.

Then things got very bizarre when a bunch of people, “human,” Kid had muttered at the sisters, appeared from the truck. The woman of the group pointed a gardening hose at the demons spraying them with was looked to Liz was ordinary water. This was proven false shortly after since the demons howled when the seemingly plain water touched their skin as if they were burning alive. At the same time, there was a sound of a megaphone turning on, as one of the guys started some unknown chant.

“What the hell…?!” Liz began, her voice barely audible between the gunshots from the Winchesters and the sound of water coming out of the high-pressure hose, which even obscured the chant coming from the megaphone. At least the two brothers looked as equally confused, their expressions looking like they belonged to a comedy show.

Then, in Liz’s opinion, things became even stranger as the demons fell on their knees, black smoke billowing out of their mouths. The smoke went skywards before descending into the ground, leaving only unconscious bodies and a couple of flabbergasted Weapons hunters and Grim Reaper behind.

There was a moment of silence as Liz, Kid Patty looked at the hunters in a mild state of shock, the brothers reciprocating the gesture before all of them focused on the people on the truck.

“That was so cool!” Patty let out, throwing her hands in the air.

“What the hell?” Dean asked, echoing Liz’s current psyche.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Patty let out a low whistle as they made it past the entrance to the city, which overlooked cement walls and barbed wire. They were in Dean’s car, following the truck that had helped them with the demons.

“This place is built like a fort,” Liz said, eyeing the barbed wire in suspicion.

“Tell me about it,” Sam said absentmindedly, looking over his window, his gaze drawn to a white medium-sized protestant church.

Dean stopped the Impala outside the church, following the red truck’s example. Their group exited the car and began heading towards the church, following the locals.

Kid was the last one to exit, quickly glancing at his surroundings before looking back from where they came.

“Kid?” Sam asked, noticing the Grim Reaper was falling behind.

The boy blinked, focusing back on the others. “Sorry just…” the Grim trailed off.

Liz nudged him. “What’s wrong?”

“When the demons left their bodies because of the exorcism…” Kid frowned, looking away as if remembering something. “I’ve seen it happen before, but this time it felt different.”

“Maybe they used a different chant,” Dean said absentmindedly, looking down on the red sigil painted outside the church’s entrance.

Kid shrugged. “Didn’t hear it over the cacophony, but it could be.”

As the motley crew of hunters, Weapons and Grim Reaper entered the church, they were greeted with the unusual sight of everyday men and women attending a wedding while clutching intimidating shotguns on their side and laps.

“Who would have thought the Apocalypse could be so romantic?” said a man in priest outfit standing between the newlywed couple.

“Are you serious?” Sam scoffed. “A wedding?”

“Yup,” spoke up the man who had introduced himself as Paul while on the way to the church. “We’ve had eight so far this week.”

“Marriage, family—it’s a blessing,” the priest continued. Liz paused from playing with her hair and looked at the priest. “Especially in times like this. So hold on to that.”

Well, Liz wasn’t sure she would call it a blessing perse, but it was a reassuring notion. Despite all the craziness she had just found herself in, the relief of finally being with Kid again mitigated some of her anxiety.

Liz glanced at Kid who was staring off into the distance. His hands were held back and his shoulders were slightly hunched, not hostile but uncomfortable. Liz supposed this was expected behaviour; Kid was quite social if he wanted to be but they were in a foreign environment, teamed up with two people that didn’t have the highest opinion of the trio.

“At least the shotguns aren’t pointed at us,” Liz said to Kid, causing the boy to lose his vacant look and give the older sister a half-hearted smile.

“Don’t jinx it,” Kid muttered in amusement, and Liz snorted in response.

Soon afterwards, the wedding ceremony was complete and the newlyweds walked out of the church, to the applause of the city’s residents.

“So,” the priest said when he approached the confused Winchester duo. “Rob told me his group saw you hunting demons.”

“We do,” Dean said scanning the crowds with suspicion.

The priest gave them a wry grin. “You missed a few.”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah, tell us about it.”

“The children…?” the preacher gestured at the trio who were talking among themselves.

“Uh no, no, they’re not with us- I mean not ours.” Dean glanced been the trio and the priest. “The boy’s... dad has been captured by demons so he’s tagging along for now. The girls are… friends.”

Gideon initially frowned at Sam’s words but eventually, his face settled into a resigned look. “Poor kids.”

Shortly after this exchange, the priest escorted the group into the basement of the church. There, people were going back and forth, moving ammunition, machinery, chanting above tabs full of water and other hunter-elated duties. They were all cooperating with each other like a well-oiled machine.

“The whole town is cooperating in driving these demons out,” the priest said as they made their way further, occasionally smiling at a few people who nodded their head in respect.

“We can see that,” Liz muttered, while the others were more preoccupied with staring at the place in mild shock. The older Thompson was reminded of the last days before the Battle on the Moon, where staff and students of the Academy kept running around like headless chickens to put together a plan and equipment used to fight Asura.

She reconsidered her analogy when she saw a six-year old preparing salt-infused bullets. She distinctively recalled a strict warning against any NOT and inexperienced EAT Meisters taking part in any of the missions relating to Asura. Then again some the EAT Meisters did participate in the normal missions…

“Whole town huh? I don’t know whether to run screaming or buy a condo.” Dean commented, looking around, and his gaze also stopping at the little girl. Kid also did the same, though he was quicker to look away.

Gideon sighed. “The demons were killing us. We had to do something.”

“Why not contact the authorities?” Kid asked.

“You don’t go to the police silly because all cops are bast-!”

“Patty, not here,” Liz quickly said, giving a harmless poke to her younger sister. She was pretty sure these white-picket townspeople wouldn’t appreciate anarchist slogans.

Gideon hesitated in answering. “We were told not to.”

Dean narrowed his eyes. “By whom?”

The priest opened his mouth and quickly closed it. “I’m sorry, I can’t say-”

“You clearly have someone who knows what’s going on. This, Sam gestured at the basement, “isn’t something you can simply look up.”

Gideon’s mouth formed a thin line. “Look-”

“Dad, it’s ok,” said a blonde young woman as she walked towards them. She was conventionally attractive and her posture screamed the 50’s ideal vision of a young woman, demure and overall nice.

It sent shivers up Liz’s spine.

“Leah?” Gideon asked, glancing between the girl and the rest.

“It’s Sam and Dean Winchester,” the girl said with a small smile. “They’re safe.”

“And you are?” Liz asked, hands crossed.

Leah turned her gaze away from the Winchesters -she was staring at Sam in particular- and regarded the trio of Weapons and Grim Reaper. “Oh hello.” The girl frowned. “I don’t know you.”

“They’re with us,” Sam quickly said. “They’re… also safe,” he concluded after some hesitation.

“That’s good to hear.” Leah gave the trio a pleasant smile. “What are your names?”

“I’m Patty!” the younger Thompson said, walking up the girl and offering her hand. “Nice to meet ya!”

“Liz Thompson. Patty’s my little sis,” Liz said while Patty vigorously shook Leah’s hand.

Leah gave Patty a slightly pained smile as she retracted her hand. Her eyes strayed to Kid’s hair and her smile became a tad more stretched. “And you are?”

“Kid,” the Grim Reaper said distractedly. His eyes kept straying to the group of locals working around them.

Leah inclined her head. “Just Kid?”

“Roll with it,” Dean quickly said. “How do you know about me and Sam?”

Leah gave them another smile. “From the angels of course.”

The moment these words left her mouth, Sam and Dean’s face scrunched up like they had tasted something sour, while Liz, Patty and Kid frowned.

“But they don’t know you’re here…” Leah began hesitatively. “The markings on your ribs, right?”

“The what?” Liz asked in surprise.

“Avoids angel tracking,” Kid quickly whispered to her.

“Oh, you don’t know?” Leah asked. “You must be a new addition to their group, right?”

“Uh, yeah, kinda like that.”

“Wait, let’s get back to the main point,” Dean said. “The angels told you about us?”

“Yes. They have told me many things,” Leah replied. “One of them being the exorcism chant we use to fight off the demons. The angels also give me the demon’s location and time of attack before it happens.”

Liz frowned. “What, you’re some kind of chosen one?”

“Oh.” Leah looked away embarrassed. “I wouldn’t be so bold as to presume myself special in front of the angels.”

Gideon gave Leah a big smile. “My girl is very special. She has never been wrong.” He turned to the others. “She’s the reason our town still exists.”

Leah continued looking away, her cheeks flushed. “Dad…”

Kid gave her a strange look. “That’s quite an unusual gift you have, Miss Gideon.”

“It is,” Leah shyly admitted. “But I want to help any way I can, so I’m grateful for it.” Her eyes met Kid’s and she gave him a perfect smile. “With all these demons, you never know what else could be lurking out there.”

Gideon gave his daughter a worried look. “Leah dear-”

“No that’s true.” Leah turned to the group. “You should be careful. The Devil’s army isn’t made up of only demons.” She bit her lip. “Some say he has the Grim Reaper by his side…”

Kid went silent and his jaw clenched. Sam and Dean both glanced at him.

‘Hell’s sake, could they be any more obvious?’ Liz thought to herself, barely restraining herself from rolling his eyes. She gave Kid a slight poke. When he turned to glance at her, Liz gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. Kid didn’t respond and returned his gaze to Leah.

This time, Liz had to hold herself back from groaning. Damn Kid and his immunity to encouraging gestures.

“Come now, don’t give them new reasons to have nightmares,” Gideon said, patting Leah on the shoulder. “I’m sure the angels will protect us.”

Kid didn’t answer. He kept staring at the girl.

“So let me guess,” Dean began. “Before you have your… visions, you get a really bad migraine and see flashing lights?”

Leah’s eyebrows rose and her mouth parted. “How’d you know?”

 Dean grinned. “Because you’re not the first prophet we’ve met. But you are the cutest.”

Gideon gave Dean a warning look while Sam rolled his eyes.

“I meant that with total respect or course.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Ok, Bobby, thanks. Call me if you find something,” Sam said and disconnected his call. He pocketed his cell phone and walked back to the table Dean, Liz, Patty and Kid were sitting.

“Did you call Bobby about the demon attacks?” Dean asked when Sam took his seat next to him.

“And a few other things,” Sam said.

“I don’t get it, you have like, two angels with you. Why not call them?” Liz asked,

“The people here have things under control,” Dean said. “Which is usually the opposite of what happens when angels, or we, get directly involved.”

 “Hey, speak for yourself,” Liz shot back. “Not much you can complicate by shooting the bad guys.”

“You'd be surprised,” Sam muttered.

 “Cas and Anna aren’t exactly liked by their peers,” Dean continued. “If we bring them here, we get prime seats for a rogue angel and Host of Heaven showdown.”

 “Oh, that sounds cool!” Patty said. “I wanna shoot some angels!” She nudged Kid. “How hard do you think it’d be to aim for the wings?”

“Probably easy,” the Grim Reaper said nonchalantly. “They can be shown for intimidation purposes and are quite large, so it’ll be an easy target.”

Sam gave Dean a disturbed look.

“Just don’t let Cas or Anna hear you say that,” the older brother said.

They stopped their conversation when the owner and main employee of the bar, Paul, arrived with two beers for The Winchesters.

“Any luck you could get me something?” Liz asked with a sly grin.

“Think not, miss,” Paul said. “Apocalypse or not, I’m not gonna start serving to minors.” He turned to Sam and Dean. “And you’d better not let her drink.”

“Scout’s honour,” Dean said.

“Spoilsports,” Liz grumbled under her breath as Paul left their table. “I’m a grown woman, I can drive and stuff.”

“So,” Sam spoke up once he was sure Paul couldn’t eavesdrop them. “Until Bobby gets back to us, any clue on where to start?” Sam began. “Why so many demon attacks?”

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know, kill the prophet maybe?”

“Leah’s soul is strange,” Kid spoke up and frowned. “It appears to be perfectly human.”

“Prophets _are_ human,” Dean stated. “What’s wrong with her soul?”

“It’s ordinary,” Kid bluntly replied. He placed a hand on his chin. “I think she may be using Soul Protect.”

Sam frowned. “A Soul what now?”

“It’s a technique by which one can shield their soul and make it appear as if it’s a perfectly human one.”

“I thought only Witches could use it,” Liz added, which only increased Sam and Dean’s confusion.

“Theoretically, anyone who can exert enough control on their souls can perform it. However, few have a reason for it. Few people can use Soul Perception.”

“Why do you think Leah has a…” Sam hesitated, “Soul Protect?”

“If she was a prophet, why would her soul be perfectly normal? I’d think it’d have some sort of signifier, anything that can set her apart from a normal human,” Kid explained. “She didn’t, which either means she’s lying, or she is managing to hide it, and the only way that is possible is by using Soul Protect.”

“Or,” Dean added, “your assumptions are wrong and prophets have normal human souls. Can’t you see the Soul Protect anyways? It sounds like some sort of blanket-”

“No, that’s the point of Soul Protect. It hides the true nature of its wielder. So far there hasn’t been anyone who can see past that…”

“Gonna agree with Kid, I don’t like her,” Liz grumbled. “She rubs me the wrong way.”

“Jealous?” Dean asked in jest.

“Of what?” Liz shot back.

When Dean didn’t answer, Liz leant forwards and rested her head on her knuckles. “Her good girl persona is an act, I can smell it from a mile away.”

At this Dean just shook his eyebrows in amusement.

“Dean,” Sam said in disappointment before turning to Liz. “Well, her dad is a pastor. She probably doesn’t want to disappoint him.”

Liz scoffed. “She’s not ‘let’s go clubbing and get high’ bad girl, but ‘I’m gonna string you up, slash your throat and bathe in the blood’ bad girl. Trust me, I know.” She nudged Kid, who was sitting between her and Patty and currently staring in the distance. “Oi, back me up here, Kid.”

Kid blinked and turned to look at Liz. “Hm, what?”

Liz’s face fell. “You’ve been blanking out for this entire conversation, haven’t you?”

“Sorry, I’m just… distracted.”

“Don’t blame you. This place gives me the creeps too.”

“I can’t blame the people for trying their best to survive. Ideally though, none of them would be involved in this,” Kid sighed. “Then again, ideally the Apocalypse wouldn’t be happening in the first place.”

“Or they can simply call the National Guard or something,” Liz replied. “But Leah, says they shouldn’t so they obey.” Speaking of people that shouldn’t be involved… Liz had to have that discussion with Kid sooner than later.

“And if the army does come, what are they going to do?” Dean asked. ‘You can’t kill demons with conventional weapons.” The Winchester leant back in his chair. “Personally, I don’t think this place is that bad.”

“Dean, you don’t really mean that-” Sam began.

“Why not?” Dean cut Sam off. “The people are doing what they can.”

“But we’re here to stop the Apocalypse!” Patty spoke up and grinned at Liz and Kid. “We’re gonna shoot Lucifer in the dick and send him straight back to hell!”

“Hell yeah, Patty!” Liz said equally excited and high-fived her sister. Kid and Sam gave the two an encouraging smile. Dean just took another sip of his beer.

The group’s impromptu beer break was cut short when the town’s church bells began tolling. Immediately the people exited the bar in an orderly fashion, leaving five very confused individuals looking like they’d just found themselves on the set of a TV show.

“What’s happening?” Sam asked.

“Creepy,” Patty giggled.

“Guys, we need to go,” said Paul, who approached them after seeing they were the only ones not currently on the move. “Leah’s had another vision of a demon attack.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

After some careful negotiating in which Kid, Liz and Patty tried to state the fact that they could fight in the most roundabout way possible, the hunter group agreed in letting them join the hunt, along with Sam and Dean. The sisters and Kid didn’t join in the group prayer though, which caused a couple of members -Dylan’s parents included- to give them the stink eye, but Liz couldn’t care less. The faster they dealt with the demons infesting this town, the less time she’d have to spend with these people.

“There we are,” Sam said once their group made it over the small hill. On the top was a suburban-style house, with bleached walls and an unkempt yard.

“Kid?” Dean looked at the boy expectantly.

“There’s seventeen of them. Three in the basement, eight on the first floor, two in the backyard, four on the second floor.” Kid narrowed his eyes. “None of their hosts are alive.”

Dean cocked his shotgun. “No holding back then.”

Rob, Dylan’s father, gave a wide-eyed look to the boy, a sentiment shared by many other members of the group. “How on Earth do you know that?”

“It’s his thing,” Dean quickly said and scratched his neck. “Uh, long story, but he can see demons through buildings. Superman’s X-ray vision stuff.”

“Cool,” Dylan said, which earned him a half-hearted glare from his mother.

“Sounds like some kind of gift,” Rob said.

Dylan’s mother, Jane, glanced at her husband. “Like Leah?”

“It’s not,” Kid cut them both off.

Jane’s gaze lingered on Kid’s skull-shaped rings. “Where are you from, boy?”

“The States,” Kid unhelpfully replied.

While the above exchange was taking place, Liz nudged Sam. “We’ll need privacy,” she whispered to the younger Winchester and looked over to her sister and Kid.

Sam nodded. “Ok, we five,” he spoke up and gestured at his brother, Kid and the Thompsons, “can take the back exit and you guys can take the front.”

“Good ol’ flanking,” Dean said with a smirk.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The back door of the old house opened with a loud creak. Dean was the first to go in, his finger on the shotgun’s trigger, with Sam after him.

“Clear,” Dean said, still holding his shotgun close.

“Told you so,” came Kid’s voice from outside. “Liz, Patty.”

In a flash of light, the two sisters transformed into guns while Kid stepped into the house. Dean and Sam couldn’t help but stare.

“M9 huh,” Dean commented. “With your surname, I thought you’d be Tommy guns.”

“You’re one to talk, Winchester,” Liz shot back, making Dean frown and look at the shotgun he was carrying.

“We’ll take the basement-” Kid cut himself off and his eyes darted upstairs, wide.

The floor collapsed and a flurry of demons got the literal jump on them. Dean yelled many expletives and fired his shotgun, catching one demon in the gut, while Sam stabbed another demon in the neck. Kid fired the sisters simultaneously, their bullets catching the two demons in the legs. As the demons fell to the floor, Kid fired again, and this time his bullet hit the demons in the chest.

Dean pointed his shotgun at Kid. “Behind you!”

The Grim Reaper barely dodged out of the shotgun’s blast, rolling to the floor and shooting at a demon Sam had difficulty overpowering.

“Kid, 6’oclock-!”

One of the demons got Kid on a chokehold.

“Come on!” Liz yelled, her face reflecting on her demon form. Kid’s right hand was caught in the chokehold, meaning she was just inches away from the demon’s face.

Kid slipped his left hand free and angled it so Patty was facing the demon’s chest. He was about to press the trigger when Dean’s shotgun got the demon in the back. The demon howled and leant forwards. Kid’s hand slipped and his aim was thrown off. The demon cried in pain and choked out a black liquid. It looked down to his bloody back, filled with bullet fragments, then up again where he had Kid’s neck and his right hand in a chokehold. Its gaze met Liz’s.

Dean fired his shotgun the same time Kid fired Patty again directly at the demon’s hand. It let go of Kid and fell to the floor motionless. Sam quickly rushed to the fallen demon and plunged Ruby’s knife in his chest.

There was no sign on the orange-electric like energy after a demon kill. Sam looked at his knife and frowned.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Liz was choking.

Liz’ usual mindscape, the space she occupied when she was in Weapon form, was usually a black void. She was the only point of reference in it, sometimes floating, other times standing on seemingly nothing. When she had first entered it, she had been creeped out by its nothingness and her vision switched from the point of view of her Weapon form, wielded by a Patty who wanted to take her for a literal spin. After being spun a couple of times, Liz had been ready to throw up and her mindscape had been a much-needed retreat from the disorienting feeling of vertigo. Afterwards, Liz had grown only more appreciative of the space. It helped her focus, concentrate on gathering her Meister’s Wavelength and fusing it with her to create a bullet and adjust for strength, radius and so many more details. It was a peaceful place,

Not now though.

Now, Liz was drowning.

In her mindscape, Liz battled with seemingly nothing. Her hands punched at thin air, and her legs twitched as if she had her feet encased in cinder blocks.

Liz’s hands stopped flailing and wrapped around her throat while she noiselessly choked like a woman on her deathbed. The sensation was overwhelming. She felt as if she was unable to breathe, despite not needing to do so in her weapon form. It was like she was being submerged under water, dragged to the bottom with her hands and feet bound, only there was no water, but pure blackness.

Eventually, Liz found herself weak, her muscles sapped of energy. Her legs stopped twitching and she desperately craned her neck in search of air that didn’t exist. One of her hands fell uselessly on her side, while the other was barely holding on to her neck. Her vision started to blacken and there was a smoky trail of darkness that swam on her peripheral vision and slowly snaked its way towards her, towards her mouth and nose… Cracking sounds filled her ears…

Something impacted Liz, pushing her away as if she as in a torrential river. There was another presence coursing through her soul, only this one was darker, but… The black smoke was torn away from her, and Liz could breathe again, despite being encircled by the new invader.  It washed over Liz like a wave of liquid darkness, providing relief, driving the intruder away.

An empty laugh echoed through her mindscape and Liz’s mind was filled with bloody murder-

The feeling was gone as soon as it had arrived. Liz fell on the non-existent floor and choked, hunching over and hacking like a sailor rescued from mermaids.

After she regained her breath, Liz gaze fell on a small lump of the second invader that hadn’t disappeared like its kin or the previous invader. It simply sat suspended and inert. Liz reached out and touched it.

She immediately jumped back. There was a sucking sensation as if something had been absorbed-

The black goo-like substance shifted, mixing with pink trails -her Wavelength?- until all that was left was a pink bullet. Just like the ones she made with…

Kid…?

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Liz?”   

Her world came into a sharp focus and Liz found herself on the ground, the worried faces of Kid and Patty looming above her. There was a cold hand on her left temple; it was probably Kid’s. Patty’s hands were always warm.

“Elizabeth?”

Oh crap, Kid was using her full name. Whatever was going on was serious.

“What the hell happened?” the older Thompson slurred, clutching the hand at her temple and trying to bring herself up. Her hands reflexively jerked, and Liz realised her head was resting on Kid’s lap. She also noticed that they were surrounded by more people, including the Winchesters and a few of the hunters they were partnered with.

“Easy there, sis,” Patty cooed. “You fainted like you’d seen a scary ghost.”

“I never fainted because I saw a ghost,” Liz slurred, narrowing her eyes and rubbing her brow.

“But what if a ghost was very, very spooky~” Patty waggled her fingers in a mock menacing faction.

Liz found herself smiling at the gesture. Leave it to Patty to ease her mood. Though…

Slowly, Liz brought herself upright. “Why did I fell down?”

“Do you remember what happened, Liz?” Kid asked in an even tone.

The older Thompson shook her head, before flinching and rubbing her temple. “Nope. Feels like I got socked in the jaw.”

“One of the demons tried to possess you,” Sam said.

Liz was silent for a few seconds, eyes widening in realisation. That first presence she had felt…

“Oh shit,” the teen eventually said, before looking around her confused. She saw a fallen body on the stairs -was that the demon?

“That about covers it,” Jane with a sympathetic smile. “We heard you screaming like a banshee and we came in as fast as we could.”

At this point Liz glanced at Kid, worried if their cover as Demon Weapons was blown. Kid gave her a barely perceptible shake.

“Don’t worry sis, we got him before he could get to you.” Patty leant in and for a moment her smile fell. “And we used the nasty bullets.”

“Why didn’t they?” Dylan asked. “Possess her, I mean.”

The crowd looked at each other and then at Liz. The elder sister felt her throat constrict. She didn’t remember much at that time, only that she had just shot a demon and then a dark smoke came at her. She brought a hand to her throat. The feeling was suffocating, but then…

The second presence. The one she felt she was familiar with, dark and powerful.

“Was it…” Liz trailed off, giving Kid a pointed look. In response, the Grim Reaper glanced around them. “…I dunno,” she eventually responded.

Rob shook his head. “Maybe you got an angel looking over you girl.”

Liz scoffed. “Yeah, angel…”

At her non-committal response, Sam bit his lip and looked around at the gathered hunters. “Hey, uh, you guys can go scout the perimeter. Dean and I can stay with them.”

After a bit more convincing from the Winchesters, the five-man group was finally left alone in the back-room of the abandoned house.

“Thanks, Kid,” Liz said when the other hunters were out of hearing range.

“Kid?” Sam asked, turning to look at the Grim Reaper. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know,” Kid hissed at the hunters before turning to his Weapon. “Liz, what happened?”

“Something drove the demon out,” Liz drawled, rubbing her eyes. “Wasn’t me, wasn’t Patty, so I’m guessing it was you.”

“Oh!” Patty exclaimed. “It must have been the Weapon Meister connection, right guys?”

“The what?” Sam asked in confusion.

“What’s a Meister?” Dean asked.

“Meister is someone who can wield Weapons silly!” Patty said before Kid or Liz could stop her. “In this case, Kid’s our Meister, and we’re his Weapons!”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “Whatever it was, it counteracted possession.” He gestured to the sisters. “You two need to get anti-possession tattoos.”

“Patty’s not getting a tattoo,” Liz protested.

“I’ll make it henna,” Dean said with a tight-lipped smile.

“Can you get me some painkillers or something?” Liz complained clutching her head. “My head’s killing me.”

Dean looked at Sam and the younger Winchester shrugged.

“We’ll go get you some,” Sam said and stood up along with Dean, with the two then exiting the house.

Once the hunters were out of sight, Liz turned to Kid, who had watched the previous exchange with a frown. “Do you think whatever happened work with other Meisters?” She asked him. “Use the Weapon-Meister connection to block possession?”

Kid shook his head and scowled. “Unless the demons go for the Meister. We got lucky because our connection requires a constant linking of our Wavelength for the bullet formation. If you and Patty were scythes or similar, I don’t know if things would have played out the same way…” He crossed his hands and looked away. “What if this happens again?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “We fought if off before, we can do it again-”

“But I won’t always be with you, Liz! What if a demon tries to take over when you’re in your human form? There’d be nothing I could do-”

“I’m not asking you to put me in danger, I’m asking you to trust me!” Liz said with indignation. “Rely on me, this isn’t my first rodeo-”

“I’m worried you’ll get hurt,” Kid said and rubbed his temple.

“You shouldn’t!” Liz groaned in frustration. “Dammit Kid, don’t you remember the crazy shit we’ve been through? Compared to the Book of Eibon, this is a cakewalk!”

“Yes, and it’s a miracle things worked so well then!” Kid yelled back. “If Black*Star hadn’t gotten to me first…” he whispered to himself.

Before Liz could respond, a scream was heard from outside the house.

“Dylan!”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The hunters had made it back to Blue Earth. Dean and Sam were talking outside a defunct motel, now used to house hunter supplies and a couple of extra beds. The Winchester stopped their conversation when they noticed Kid exiting the front, his brow furrowed and his hands in his pockets.

“The girls?” Dean asked, looking at the repurposed motel.

“Elizabeth is sleeping, and Patricia is with her.” Kid let out a sigh. “She’s… exhausted.”

“You?” Sam asked.

Kid looked away. “I’ll be around.”

Dean frowned. “Aren’t you going to the funeral?”

“Dylan’s soul has been put to rest,” Kid bluntly said. “What else is there to do?”

“But he died under our watch,” Dean insisted.

Kid nodded. “I have done what needs to be done. Now if you’ll excuse me,” the boy said as he pushed his way through the brothers and headed off in an unspecified direction.

Dean watched Kid with a clenched jaw and fist, feeling an increasing urge to punch the Grim Reaper.

Sam grabbed his brother by the arm “Dean. Not now.”

“It pisses me off,” Dean said, never meeting Sam’s eyes. “He was the same way at Bobby’s.”

“He’s a Grim Reaper, what do you expect him to do? Cry every time one of us is killed?” Sam looked at the church and his face was worn. “Dylan won’t be the first or the last.”

Dean pulled his hand away. “It still pisses me off. You saw how he acted when one of the girls almost got possessed -looked like he didn’t give a crap.”

Sam sighed. “Dean we’ve been through this before, and we saw how it turned out with Bobby. When it comes to these things, Kid can be trusted-”

“As a Grim Reaper,” the older Winchester insisted.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Obviously, it’s not like he’s a human.”

“And I’m talking about the living teenagers, not the dead one.”

“We don’t know what they’re like as a team Dean, maybe-”,” Sam said, hands akimbo.

“Maybe what?” Dean hissed at Sam. “Maybe they’re hired guns? Professional teen hitwomen?” He narrowed his eyes. “Or maybe they’re forced-”

“They travelled half the country to get to Kid.”

“Must be a very aggressive contract then,” Dean shot back, looking at his brother expectantly.

Sam opened his mouth but closed it without saying a word.

Dean shook his head and entered the church, just as the funeral was coming to an end, his brother trailing behind. They sat on a bench at the back of the church and quietly watched the proceedings. Gideon was saying some heartfelt words, mostly addressed to Dylan’s inconsolable parents. Leah had her eyes fixed on the coffin, and her head was slightly tilted.

The relative peace was broken when Leah fell to the floor, her limbs twitching as if she had a seizure.

“Leah!” Gideon said, rushing to his daughter’s side.

After a few tense moments, Leah’s spasms faded, and the girl stood up with the help of her father. A ghost of a smile was on her lips.

“Jane, Rob… It’s going to be okay. You’ll see Dylan again. When the final day comes, Judgement Day, he’ll be resurrected and you’ll be together again. We’ll all be together. With all our loved ones.” At Leah’s words and encouraging smile, Jane placed her hand in her mouth, while Rob held her tight. “We’ve been chosen. The angels have chosen us. And we will be given paradise on earth. All we have to do is follow the angels’ commandments.”

Sam rolled his eyes at her words.

Leah’s face darkened and she looked away. “But there is one thing we have to be careful of…”

Gideon placed a consoling hand on the prophet's soldier. “Leah, what is it?”

The girl scanned the church crowd with a frown and licked her lips. “A spectre is haunting our town…”

The crowds hang on to her words as if they were an oasis on the Sahara.

“The spectre of Death.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“How you doin’ sis?” Patty asked the newly-awakened Liz as she yawned and rolled on her bed.

“I’m alright,” Liz said and stretched before plopping back into the bed. “Ugh, I want to spend the entire day snuggled up like this…”

“Hopefully you will,” came Kid’s voice as he entered the old-motel-repurposed-into-a-warehouse-and-re-repurposed-as-a-motel-again room.

“Hey Kid,” Liz greeted the boy with a yawn, while Patty gave him a tight almost-reciprocated hug. “What did I miss?”

“Not much,” Kid said and went to close the blinders on the setting sun. “The locals are finishing up the funeral.”

Liz grimaced at that. After they had heard the screams at the demon-infested property, Liz went in a mild-panic and scrambled to get up. Patty was at a loss on what to do and settled for helping Liz stay up when the older Thompson eventually got vertigo from her sudden movement. Kid had only narrowed his eyes. “It’s too late,” he had told them.

“So that’s how the Apocalypse is,” the older sister whispered to herself.

Kid turned and looked at Liz. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” Liz said as she got off her bed and stretched her back. “Nothing hurts, healthy as a horse and stuff.”

Kid looked away, relieved. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Me too sis!” Patty said and threw herself into her sister and gave her a hug that forced the air out of her lungs.

“Hey Kid,” Liz said when she was free to breathe again. “Remember when I said I wanted to talk to you earlier?”

Kid nodded.

“It has to do the DWMA.” Liz put her hands up in defence when Kid narrowed his eyes. “Look, I know you’re convinced on not telling them where you are. Don’t really agree, but…” Liz let her voice trail off meaningfully.

“What is it about?” Kid asked in defeat.

“It’s about me and Patty,” Liz answered. “I can’t have us going MIA as well. Can you imagine the shit-show that would cause?”

Kid let out a small smile. “Deathscythe would get a heart-attack.”

Liz reciprocated the gesture. “If he already hasn’t had one from your shenanigans… But yeah, I need to call them.” The smile fell from her face when Kid was ready to protest. “I’m not gonna rat you out. I’m asking in case you want me to pass a message, like if the Academy should do something and stuff.” Her expression softened. “And, I think you’d want to hear the others too. It’s been a month.”

“…That’d be nice,” Kid admitted. “And if you could tell them to keep watch for any suspicious activity that’d be great.”

“But lies are bad sis!” Patty protested.

“I know Patty.” Liz sighed. “But sometimes we have to lie so we won’t hurt people.”

Patty’s pout remained. “Ok…” she eventually conceded.

Upon gaining both parties’ approval, Liz took out her cell phone and went through her contacts and dialled one of the numbers.

“Calling,” she said and put the phone on a dusty coffee table.

“Hello?” A young female answered.

“Hey Maka, it’s Liz.”

“Liz?” Maka asked in surprise. “Liz! Thank goodness we were starting to get worried -hold on.”

There were shuffling noises and voices too far off the speaker to be audible.

“I put you on speaker Liz,” Maka said before her voice was drowned by a multitude of others.

“Hey, you two alright?” came Soul’s voice. “We haven’t heard from you for almost two days, I thought the trip would only take you half a day?”

“Did you find Kid or Lord Death?” came Spirit’s worried voice.

“Yeah, if you did I’m gonna kick their asses for leaving us in the dust like that-!”

“Blackstar please…”

“One at a time guys,” Liz said, feeling like an orator about to address a frenzied crowd. “Me and Patty are alright. Sorry for not calling in earlier, we had issues with coverage and we missed a bus.”

“What about Kid?” Soul asked.

Liz took a second too long to answer. “Didn’t find him.”

A collective groan came from the other side.

“But the report we got…” Maka’s voice trailed off.

“Did the sheriff made a mistake?” Tsubaki asked.

“Dunno,” Liz answered.

“Ah man, I’m so not jealous of you right now,” Soul said with a groan. “Coming all the way back with nothing is gonna be a pain.”

“About that,” Liz began. “Patty and I won’t be coming back for a bit.”

“Huh?” The others asked.

“Look, it’s a long story and I don’t have enough credit,” Liz lied. “But I think I may be on to something.”

“What do you mean?” Maka asked.

“Sorry, long story-”

“Give us the cliff notes version, then,” Soul said.

“Uh…” Liz stuttered, glancing at Kid who gave her a lost look.

“We managed to track Kid but we haven’t found him yet!” Patty yelled.

“What-?”

“Y-yes, we’re hot on the trail!” Liz forcefully said. “Sorry guys, but even if I told you where we were I’d be gone by the time you arrived-”

“Is this a challenge? -Hey Liz tell me where you are and I’ll be there before you can say ‘BLACKSTAR’-!”

“Y-you guys need to watch over the Academy and stuff!” Liz continued, swallowing down a lump in her throat. “Look, we don’t even know if it’s Kid we’re following after or some other pasty white runaway, so you really shouldn’t bother…”

After Liz’s voice trailed off, there was a small period of silence between the two parties. Liz looked over to Kid, who was leaning against one of the corners of the room and looking anywhere but the phone.

“If you say so…” Tsubaki’s timid voice eventually came through the phone.

Liz let out a silent sigh of relief and held back the urge to bow to Tsubaki’s voice. “By the way how are things on your end? Any new leads, anything unusual happening?”

“Things are pretty calm here,” Soul began.

“Yeah, we’re damn lucky the next Witch meet-up in months from now,” Spirit continued. “Still hasn’t stopped anyone with a functioning pair of eyes and ears to bugger me about Kid or Lord Death.” The man let out a long-suffering groan. “I’m a Deathscythe, not their babysitter for crying out loud-”

“Azusa’s still the one running the Academy,” Maka added. “Tezca’s helping her out so we haven’t had any problems.”

“That’s good to hear,” Liz said. “Keep an eye out for things alright? I think there’s some weird stuff happening.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Soul said with a snort. “As if the two Grim Reapers going missing hadn’t tipped us off.”

“True.” Liz reached for the end call button. “Alright, I’ll keep looking. If anything important comes up I’ll let you know.”

“Liz, wait,” Maka spoke up, causing the older Thompson to pause. “We’re all together in this,” the Scythe-Meister stated. Her words had an imploring feeling to them. “If there’s anything we can do to help, please tell us. Can’t be worse than Asura, right?”

Liz looked over to Patty who was looking at the phone with a frown. Behind her, Kid was still looking away.

“…Sure,” Liz said and ended the call.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Hey,” Sam said once entered Paul’s bar and headed for the counter. He frowned once he saw the bar was empty, save for one table in the back where Kid, Liz and Patty were. “I thought the apocalypse was good for business?"

“Oh, definitely,” Paul said with a sardonic smile as he took out three glasses. “Right up until Leah’s angel pals banned the good stuff.”

“You’ve had no customers?” Sam asked and looked around the bar once more.

“Only those three,” Paul said and pointed at the only occupied table in the bar. “Of course, that means the only stock I can get rid of tonight is my pop supply.” He reached in a dusty part of his counter and filled the glasses with soda. “Help me kill some of the other inventory?”

“Uh sure, I wouldn’t mind a beer,” Sam said and glanced back to Kid, Liz and Patty. “I’ll be around.”

While Paul nodded took out another glass, Sam left the counter and headed to the occupied table. The three teens were having a conversation which was cut short when they noticed Sam heading their way.

“Mind if I…?” Sam’s voice trailed off as he gestured to one of the chairs. The teens exchanged brief looks and Kid gave him a noncommittal shrug. Sam took that as a positive and pulled a chair to the table, sitting across from Kid who was between the sisters.

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked Liz.

The older Thompson rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. You all act like I came back from the dead or something.”

At her words, Sam’s expression became pained while Kid frowned and looked away. Liz slightly rose her eyebrow at their reaction but didn’t speak up.

Kid gave the sister a concerned look. “A demon tried to possess you, Liz.”

“People don’t walk away from stuff like that,” Sam added.

“What can I say, I got a guardian-angel looking over me,” Liz said with a smirk and nudged Kid.

Patty pouted. “Sis, we were all worried…”

“You two need to get tattoos,” Sam addressed to Liz and Patty.

“I told you, Patty’s too young for a tattoo,” Liz protested.

“It’s a ward which blocks possession.” Sam unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the tattoo on his collarbone. “Dean and I already have those.”

Kid frowned at that. “You didn’t tell me about this-”

“We didn’t tell you because you don’t need them-”

“This is important information!” Kid protested which caused Sam to lean back in surprise. “Why didn’t you say so when Liz and Patty came along-?”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Liz said, grabbing Kid by the elbow which calmed his down. “Don’t ride his ass about it.” Liz leant back and gave Sam a smirk -the younger Winchester had no idea if it was the friendly one or not. “I’m guessing you didn’t even know if we were humans before that.”

Sam swallowed a lump in his throat and smoothed his expression into a neutral one. It wasn’t as if Liz unnerved him, it was that he knew so little stuff about her and her sister that he didn’t know what to expect.  “Well, now we know that you can be possessed. We need to stop that from happening.”

“I want mine to be pink!” Patty said, and Sam had to stop himself from cracking a smile.

“Does it have to be a tattoo?” Liz asked. “Can’t I draw the thingy with a sharpie or something?”

Sam opened his mouth but immediately closed it. “Actually…” He twisted his back to face the bar’s counter. “Hey Paul!” he called out. “Know where I can find henna supplies?”

“Sure do,” Paul replied as he came over holding a tray containing three glasses and two bottles of beers. “Can get you some after I close tonight,” the man offered as he unloaded the contents of the tray onto their table. “Your orders by the way, mind if I join in?” Paul asked, putting his tray on another table and taking the extra beer bottle with him.

“Nah, privacy is overrated,” Liz dryly said. Paul apparently took the statement completely straight and settled down on the table with them.

There was a small period of awkward silence between them.

“Boring night,” Liz began.

“Tell me about it.” Paul took a sip of his beer. “This place… I grew up here, I love this town. But, uh...” he sighed, “well, these holy rollers...”

“I’m guessing you're not the praying type,” Sam said.

“Wasn’t the only one. Before this whole mess started half of these holier-than-thou guys were all in here, getting wasted, banging the nanny. Now they're all warriors of God. No monsters, no disease, no death.”

“You’re preaching to the choir buddy.” Liz leant towards Paul in a conspiratorial manner. “Say, I couldn’t convince you, now with the Apocalypse and everything, to give me a beer, right?”

“Nah,” Paul said with a laugh. “Just in case the whole thing’s a sham, I don’t serve to minors.”

Liz puffed her cheeks in annoyance. “Spoilsport.”

Paul gave the teen a small smile, before sobering up. “Look, if there’s one thing I believe now is that there sure as hell are demons.” The man shrugged. “And, maybe, there is a god, I don't know. But I'm not a hypocrite. Didn’t pray before and I ain't starting now. If I go to hell, I'm going honest. How 'bout you?”

“What about me?” Sam repeated.

“Not a true believer, I take it?”

“I believe. Yeah. I do. I'm just... Pretty sure God stopped caring a long time ago.”

Paul gave Sam a long look before looking to the others. “How about you kids?”

“I follow a different belief system,” Kid said.

“Same,” Liz and Patty chorused with a laugh and a giggle respectively.

Paul raised an eyebrow at that and raised a glass to them. “Props.” He took a sip from his beer. “Don’t say that to the people here though. A bunch of them were missionaries to the 10/40 window. Leah herself wanted to take part, ‘feed children in Africa and spread the word of God’ and all that.”

Liz scoffed at the mention of Leah. “The hell is up with her get-up anyways? Being a ‘prophet’ and all that.”

“Not religious I take it?” Sam asked in amusement.

Liz snorted. “What do you think, genius? Didn’t worship anyone before, sure as hell ain’t gonna start now.”

“Before?”

Liz shrugged. “Weird life. Had some strange things happen to me.”

“A spiritual experience?”

“If it was a spiritual experience, it was more physical than I expected,” Liz said, nudging Kid. The Grim Reaper gave her a flat look, which only served to increase Liz’s amusement.

Paul nodded at that, slightly lost, and turned to Kid. “Hopefully you’ll get to meet your folk. If I recall, your dad’s been taken in by one of these demons?”

Kid’s jaw slightly clenched. “Yes.”

“Your mum must be worried sick-“

“I don’t have a mother. It’s just me and father.”

Paul nodded in understanding, before turning to the two sisters. “I’m guessing you two got your own folks to worry.”

Liz chuckled again, only this time her voice was void of humour. “Nope. It’s just me and Patty.”

Sam frowned. “Your parents?”

Liz paused. “Don’t give a crap,” she eventually answered. “Mum was a ‘working girl’ so me and Patty got no clue who our dads are. Not that I ever cared about them or her in any case.”

Sam flinched Liz’s words. His eyes softened. “That’s… harsh.”

Liz shrugged. “So, anyone else wanna have a heart-opening session, or is it just gonna be me?” Liz tilted her head at Sam. “How about you, big guy?”

Sam shook his head. “Dean’s the only one I have as well. Our Mum and Dad… they’re both dead.”

“Ah,” Liz said. “Sorry for bringing it up.” She gave a fond look at Kid and Patty, the Grim Reaper patiently listening to an excited younger Thompson. “Family’s not the end-all after all.”

Sam couldn’t bring himself to agree.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

After the funeral, Dean chose to stay walk around the small town. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone so he purposely avoided going anywhere close to where Sam could be, including Paul’s bar, which was how he found himself in a white-picket neighbourhood, disoriented and a bit lost.

“Dean?” A woman’s voice called out to him and Dean turned to see who it belonged to.

Dean mentally cursed when he recognised the woman’s face. “Jane, if this is about Dylan, I am so sorry-”

“Don’t,” Jane immediately cut him off, her expression faltering for a second. “I will see my son soon.” She tried to give Dean a smile which ended up coming out as a grimace. “Just as the prophet said.”

“Uh…” Dean looked around awkwardly. “Ok”

“It’s just…” Jane bit her bottom lip. “I can’t get Leah’s words out of my head.”

“Right,” Dean replied and thought back to Dylan’s funeral. “Can't blame you for that.”

Sam and Dean had no idea if Leah was somehow aware of Kid’s presence as a Grim Reaper or if she was making a point about the general role of death in the Apocalypse. The girl's mini-sermon was vague and confusing enough that it kept Dead double-guessing.

“She said that our town will be plagued by death if we don’t obey the angels and I can’t help but think…” Jane rubbed her temple. “The boy that is with you... what’s his name again?”

Dean frowned. “Uh, we call him Kid.”

The woman frowned but did not comment on the matter. “The rings he is wearing… I recognise the symbol. It is not a good symbol.”

“What do you mean?”

“I worked with a few missionary groups back in the day. Back then, it was all stories, but now with everything that is happening…”

Dean scoffed. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Anyways, the skull on his ring… it’s connected to a city in Nevada.” She looked around and gave him a conspiratorial look. “Death City, it’s called.”

“Charming,” Dean commented nonchalantly, but mentally he recalled the Grim Reaper’s missing report was filed in the same state. “Death city huh?” he repeated. With a name like that...

“There are no good rumours about that place,” Jane said with a scowl. “People say it’s full of paganists or some other weird cult…” The woman’s voice trailed off. “I heard it dates back before even Columbus discovered America, that the land had been settled by Indians centuries ago.”

“You don’t say,” Dean slowly said, paying careful attention to the woman's words. Nevada was a long way from where they were, but maybe he could get Bobby to look into the area.

“I went there on a mission a few years ago. I first thought this was silly. ‘We're a good God-fearing Christian nation, why would we need a mission within our own borders?’ But…” Jane shook her head.

“No success?”

“It’d be easier if I was sent to Saudi Arabia,” the woman dryly said. “Locals -don’t even know if I call them that because more than half of these people are from God-knows where- avoided me like the plague and kept whispering behind my back. At first I thought I was paranoid, but then I noticed the whole city had a single tiny church and it was on the very outskirts of it, right next to a…” her nose curled, “mosque and a couple more strange shrines and buildings.” Jane folded her hands and frowned. “Old towns like that, they're usually chock-full of them, Evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, what have you.” The woman sighed in frustration. “I visited the church to regain some strength and the Father there told me my efforts were in vain and offered to refund my ticket. It was like he was into some joke.”

“The heat must have gotten to their heads,” Dean offered, carefully listening to the woman. “Did you find out why they were avoiding you?”

Jane shook her head. “No, and I tried. At least to the ones that bothered to speak English, you’d think with them coming to America that they’d bother -oh but I’m getting ahead of myself,” she said with exasperation. “No, all I got were weird looks.”

“And about the skull?”

“Oh yes, that. One thing I kept seeing was that ghastly skull symbol. The city was full of it. I saw it in coffee shops, graffiti, all types of places…” Jane scoffed. “You’d have thought it was the city’s branding.”

“With a name like Death City and being in a dessert, I can’t imagine they have many options.”

“Still, did they have to go with something so… satanic?”

“It’s just a skull,” Dean gave her deadpan look. “Not really threatening.”

“Symbols are powerful things. The Devil’s in the details.” Jane frowned and looked away. “It’s a skull and now with what has Leah said…”

“I’m sure it’s a coincidence.” Dean gave her a smirk. “Folks have a thing for skulls. They’re practically everywhere.”

“Still,” Jane insisted. “At first I thought the city was just misguided and quirky.” “But now that I have seen demons with my own two eyes…”

The woman shook her head. “Be careful of those kids. They can’t be good news.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The sun had set when Sam returned to his motel room. There he had found Dean, who glanced at him and then returned to his laptop.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked. He then seemed to reconsider, seeing at it was late at night and Dean was using his laptop. “Actually, you don’t have to tell me-”

“Research,” Dean replied. When he saw Sam’s confused look, Dean gave his brother a hurt look. “Don’t act so surprised.”

“What about?” Sam hesitantly asked.

“Sightseeing,” Dean said in a mocking tone. “When we stop the Apocalypse, we should take a trip to Nevada-”

Their conversation was cut short when Sam’s phone rang.

“Who’s that?”

“Bobby,” Sam said and looked around, finding the room empty sans him and Dean.

Dean frowned. “Why’s Bobby calling us?”

Sam accepted the call and placed his cell phone on a nearby coffee table and sat in the armchair next to it. “You’ll see.”

“Sam?” came a voice from the phone after a few seconds.

“Hi Bobby,” Sam replied.

“Hi,” Dean spoke up as well.

“Dean?” came Bobby’s surprised voice. “Am I on speaker?”

“He’ll want to hear this as well,” Sam said.

Dean turned to Sam. “Hear what?”

“What the Thompson sisters are,” Bobby replied. “I had Sam call me about it.”

Dean looked between Sam and the cell phone. “Don’t keep us the dark then. What’d you find out?”

“They’re Demon Weapons,” Bobby bluntly replied.

Dean blinked. “And in human-talk, this is…?”

Bobby sighed. “And this is where it gets complicated.” There was a sound of ruffled paper. “You two boys know about the ‘Old Witches’?”

Sam and Dean exchanged confused looks.

“I’m taking your silence as a negative,” Bobby continued.  “They’re women, at least as far as I’m aware. Though there was some talk about some medieval mathematician being one…” Bobby trailed off. “Anyways. The Witches I’m talking about aren’t humans that have made a pack with a Devil or use fancy rituals to use their power.”

“Kid told us about that,” Sam recalled, turning to Dean. “It was the first case we worked together.”

“Not surprised. From what I’ve managed to dig up these Witched caused all sorts of trouble. Doesn’t surprised me if they came at odds with Death at one point.”

“But if they don’t make deals with demons-” Sam began.

“That don’t mean they don’t have magic. Quite the opposite. Quite the opposite…”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Bobby, you’re sounding spooked.”

“Good. I had to ring up some really shady acquaintances to get this info.” Bobby paused and there was the sound of shuffling papers. “Apparently, they get their powers from birth. They say that their magic has a common theme, usually an animal like a cat or a fox, and what they can do it related to that theme.”

Sam crossed his hands. “What does any of this have to do with what the girls are?”

“Ever heard of the Gorgon sisters?”

Dean looked at Sam lost, and the younger brother raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t Gorgons monsters from Greek mythology?”

“They’re monsters alright,” Bobby said with a dark chuckle. “The Gorgons sisters are -or were- three ancient witches, three sisters. All powerful, and each scary in her own ways.” There was a pause. “The oldest one of them was known as Arachne Gorgon and, from what I’ve been able to put together, she is the creator of Demon Weapons.”

“What?” Sam and Dean chorused.

“It was some sort of failed experiment I think. Happened a long time ago, in an era we supernatural researchers like me refer to the Dark Days.”

“Dark days?” Dean snorted, “Reminds me of comic book eras.”

“Ever wonder when Death got that fearsome reputation?” Bobby asked, which promptly shut Dean and Sam off. “Anyways, about Arachne,” he continued. “She took humans, and forced them to consume the souls of another type of monster known as pre-Kishin -don’t ask, that’s all the info I have on them- along with one soul of her own kin to turn a human into what is now known as a Demon Weapon.”

“What, was she building some kind of army?” Dean asked, glancing at Sam.

“If it was, it failed,” Bobby answered. “Shortly after, the Witch was involved in some other shady business and has been gone ever since. I’m guessing whatever poor souls she was experimenting on managed to escape and spread.”

“Well, that’s…” Dean’s voice trailed off.

“What can Weapons do?” Sam asked.

“Their prime ability is to transform into well, a Weapon.”

“The Thompsons can transform into guns,” Sam thought out loud.

“Figured as much,” Bobby said with a sigh. “There’s some talk that they can also enhance the abilities of those who wield them, but I don’t know how much of that is true. Haven’t seen them in action.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Dean said.

“One more thing boys,” Bobby spoke up before Sam ended the call. “During my research, one place kept coming up as a constant point of reference. And it’s location well…”

Sam frowned. “What’s the place?”

“Death City in the Nevada Desert.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Liz was on the repurposed motel’s rooftop, leaning against the thin and rickety-looking railing. A thin trail of smoke came from a loosely-held cigarette. She, Kid, Patty, and Sam had left Paul’s a while ago before the newly-set up curfew came into effect. For now, she leant against the rickety railing, watching the sun’s dying rays with a bored look and a smoke.

At the sound of footsteps, Liz turned around in surprise. Her tension somewhat dissipated when she recognised the younger Winchester’s face but her eyes remained narrow. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sam greeted her and looked at her cigarette. “You smoke?”

Liz snorted. “Don’t tell Kid. He’ll lecture me for hours.” She looked at her pack and then to Sam. “Want one?”

“I don’t smoke.”

“Good for you. I stopped but I still do it when I’m stressed.” Liz sighed. “You won’t believe how many packets I’ve been through this month alone.”

Sam frowned. “You said Kid will lecture you?”

Liz let out a small laugh. “Yup. He’s a stickler when it comes to healthy living. Funny, huh?”

“He… doesn’t seem the type.”

“I was just as surprised. He probably wants me and Patty to be healthy, live long and all that.” Liz rubbed her temple. “Goodness knows I hadn’t cared about my health before.”

“Before you two met?”

“Yup.” Liz gave Sam a smirk. “That’s all you’re getting by the way”

Sam shrugged, and this one carried a resigned calmness to it. “Can’t fault a guy for trying.”

Liz inclined her head in agreement. “This town keeps giving me the creeps,” she said. “What’s with everyone acting so high and mighty all the time?”

“They’re following the angel’s orders,” Sam said, resigned.

Liz scoffed. “Sure they are.”

Sam gave her an empathetic smile. “Not a fan?”

“I prefer the god who’s good at making lasagne,” Liz said with a dry smile.

“Death?”

“Kid, but my point still stands,” Liz said with a shrug. “Dunno if Death can even cook, honestly.”

Sam gave her a look and leant towards the rail. “Why are you with him?”

“There we go with the interrogation again.” Liz rolled her eyes. “Look, all you need to know is that he got me and sis out of a bad situation. We’ve stuck along ever since.”

“That doesn't explain how you travelled across the country to find him.”

“What can I say, I’m loyal,” Liz said in amusement. “Woof.”

Sam grimaced and looked away. “I don’t get it.”

Liz threw him a quick glance before she refocused on her cigarette. Her face scrunched up and she threw it on the ground and stomped it for good measure. “Look. I don’t know what’s your deal with the supernatural, but I’ll tell you mine, just to get this over with. Kid and his dad have been nicer to us than any humans we’d met before.” Her face softened. “So yeah, you can bet your ass I’m gonna side with them over some random dudes who just happen to be human or some condescending assholes with wings. No offence.”

“None taken,” Sam said in a manner that suggested the opposite.

Their conversation was broken up by another pair of footsteps coming from the stairs leading to the roof. The exit door to the roof opened and Dean walked through. He gave Sam and Liz a surprised look, as if he expected to be alone, but his expression had given way to dispassionate wry one as he approached them.

“What’s up?” Dean asked as he joined them. “Having a late-night conversation?”

“Yeah, we’re spilling our hearts out in the pale moonlight.” Liz tilted her cigarette towards the older brother. “Smoke?”

“Nah.”

Liz retracted her cigarette. “I can see the family semblance now. By the way, Kid and Patty?”

“Last I checked, your sister was taking a shower,” Dean said. “Dunno where Kid is.”

Liz frowned at that. “Huh. I’ll have to look for him later.”

There was a period of silence which seemingly stretched forever. Liz looked down at her cigarette. Most of it had fallen away. A small breeze lightly pulled at her hair.

She had had a lot of these moments lately. Away from friendly faces, smoking. Last month had lasted for seemingly forever and during in it, her worry only worsened, eating her away like rot does to a discarded apple.

“What have you been up to?” Liz asked the brothers out of the blue. “Before me and Patty arrived, in the months when Kid was with you.”

Dean gave her an amused grin. “You want a report? Is that worry-?”

“Yup, I’m a giant worrywart. Now spill.”

“Nothing useful, that I can tell,” Dean said.

“That’s not true,” Sam said. “We recruited Anna-”

“But we’re not any closer to stopping the Apocalypse-”

“We stopped Famine-”

“Woah, slow down there,” Liz cut them both off and narrowed her eyes at the two. “Famine?”

“Yeah. Famine, one of the Horsemen. The same as Death,” Sam said. “You know this.”

Liz shook her head, her mind racing. “Wasn’t even aware the horsemen were a thing.”

Sam gave her disbelieving look. “You work with a Grim Reaper.”

“Yup, and he’s the son of Death, and they’re both giant dorks.” That remark earned her a raised eyebrow from Dean and a disbelieving look from Sam. “Never had to think about that stuff,” she lied. She wasn’t about to mention what little but terrifying facts she knew about the Great Old Ones which the two Grim Reapers were part of. Were the Horsemen a sub-category of the Old Ones, or something else entirely...?

“Not our experience,” Dean said with a tight-lipped smile. “Kid’s not exactly been all that warm and welcoming.”

Liz shrugged. “What did you expect? His old man’s been kidnapped. Hell, if something had happened to Patty I’d be out shooting people, not working with folks who want me dead.” At their shocked looks, Liz threw them a confused look. “Why that look? You’re hunters. Not the first time, I encountered your bunch. Hell, I’d known you before I knew that Grim Reapers weren’t a legend.”

Dean exchanged looks with Sam before speaking up. “You’ve met hunters before?”

“We didn’t get along if that’s what you’re interested in,” Liz said and looked away, Her jaw was clenched. “Unfortunately for them, I had better aim.” It had been a good thing at that time. They carried guns, the plain yet deadly variety, and had looked more than eager to use them.

“…Let’s hope we don’t have to test that out with us as well,” Dean hesitantly said.

“I’ll behave if you do too,” Liz offered in a fake cheerful voice. “Besides, if Kid thinks you’re good enough, that’s fine by me. Oh and you still haven’t answered my question”

Dean and Sam gave her a questioning look.

“What happened while you two were with Kid? I want details.”

“That again,” Sam said. “Why do you worry?”

“Let me do the worrying, you do the talking.”

“Hey, we want answers too,” Dean said. “You give some, you take some.”

Liz gave Dean a small glare, which the older hunters took with a nonchalant smirk. Eventually, Liz scowled and broke eye contact.

“Shoot away,” she said.

“What are you?” Dean asked. When Sam was about to protest, Dean gave him a quick ‘I-know-what-I’m-doing’ smirk. Sam didn’t look convinced, but he also didn’t speak up.

Liz rolled her eyes. “I told you, a Weapon. I can transform into a gun, you’ve seen that.”

“We know that,” Dean quickly said. “Question was a test.”

Liz felt her blood run cold. “What?”

“You belong to a group of people known as Demon Weapons. The experiments of a Witch,” Dean explained with a cold smile. “We had people dig into it.”

Liz was pressing into her cigarette, almost crushing it. “Congratulations,” she said in a cold tone. “How’d you find out?”

“Trade secret,” Dean said, his hands casually in his pockets. “But, if you leave enough breadcrumbs-”

“You try to harm anyone from there and you’re dead,” Liz cut him off, her voice as deep as it’d go while remaining threatening. She had experience with that. “The city’s protected.”

“By Death?” Sam asked, his voice grim.

“Not only. By each other too. Turns out, if you bring a bunch of similar people together, they’ll form a tight-knit group.” “So if you try anything you’ll have people from all over the world after you”

Dean shrugged. “Not a first for us.”

“We don’t want to harm people,” Sam quickly said raising a hand in a pacifying gesture. He quickly lowered it when Liz looked as if she’d prefer biting it off. “We just want some answers.”

Liz gave them a long look, which the brothers reciprocated. Eventually, she looked away and repressed a low growl. “What’s your first question?”

“What’s Death City?” Dean asked. “Oh, and we already know a few thing we’re not telling. You know, just in case you start lying.”

“Death City’s our home,” Liz admitted with a grimace, cutting them off.

Sam asked. “Home?”

“Yup. The Demon Weapons thing is the secret everyone knows…” Liz said with an air of nostalgia. “Because most folk there are either one or a Meister.”

“So, all the Demon Weapons are gathered in one place? And the Grim Reaper is in charge of that place?” Sam scoffed. “Is Death is building an army?”

Liz laughed. “Is’? You’re a bit late to the party fellas. It’s been this way for hundreds of years. And, FYI, it’s a school.”

Dean snorted. “Next thing you’ll tell me is that you got a headmaster named Xavier’.”

“Nah, ours is more impressive,” Liz said with a small grin. “Death’s the headmaster.”

“I can’t believe this,” Dean said frustration.

Sam let out a bitter laugh. “So you’re fine being Death’s pawn.”

“If it wasn’t Death city, I’d be some Mafia Baron’s hitwoman … Unless I was the Baron myself.” She shuddered to think about Patty’s future if they had never met Kid. “I’m Kid’s partner, not his property,” she said with a half-hearted glare directed at the two. “Besides I can stop whenever I want. Anyone can. That was made clear to me.”

“So why do they not?”

Liz shrugged. “Some do. The NOT, I mean the students with ordinary abilities are Weapons just need to get enough training to not randomly transform into their Weapon for and accidentally poke someone’s eye out.” At the brother’s confused look, Liz let out a small laugh. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s happened.”

“So instead of teens running with scissors, you got teens literally being scissors,” Sam commented.

“Those skilled enough can make it in the much smaller EAT section, the one me, sis and Kid are in,” Liz explained. “And then, an even smaller portion of them can get the green to go into missions.”

Dean frowned. “Missions?”

“Can be a bunch of things, but it always has to do with people eating souls. Can be loose serial killers, mafia, ghost ships…” She shivered at the last one, of a bad memory of a ghost girl screaming at her to get her shit together. “Used to be we went after rogue Witches too but not anymore.”

“You sound like you speak from experience,” Sam said, arms crossed.

“We’ve been in a couple,” Liz said with a shrug. “Kid never had much of a choice, being a Grim Reaper and all. But me and Patty choose to come along and deal with all this crazy… creepy shit.” She looked at the two. “And I still haven’t changed my mind.”

Dean clicked his tongue and looked away. “He doesn’t care.”

“He does,” Liz insisted.

Dean narrowed his eyes at her. “We’ve seen him act.”

“And I’ve known him longer,” Liz shot back. “And we’ve been through a lot worse.”

“Like what?” Dean asked.

“None of your business.”

“How can we trust you when you say it’s none of our business?” Sam asked.

“Ugh, fine,” Liz said with a frustrated groan. “We had to deal with our own version of a mini-apocalypse, and we did so as a team.”

That got the two brothers silent, or at least silent enough for Liz. She was looking away when was talking before, so she missed the body language and all those silent language shenanigans the two hunters seemed so fond of using. Good for her, because she really wanted some peace and quiet. She had been cornered like a rat and cold hope that what she told them wouldn’t deal with bigger trouble down the road.

Besides, all the worries they had about Kid were complete bogus. He wasn’t any more of an asshole than your average human being. Perhaps a bit more when it came to ‘matters of grave importance’ but he’d been improving. Then again new enemies were popping up again, this time with a bone to pick and…

_‘Yes, and it_ _’s a miracle things worked so well then!_ _’_

No, that was the stress talking. Liz was worried about nothing. Kid had refused Asura’s offer point blank. Even after the big reveal that they were brothers, Liz shuddered to think of the implications, Kid, with Maka’s encouragement, had remained steadfast in taking down the Kishin. Kid hadn’t completed the Lines, and Liz chose to believe it was because Black*Star had jumped in at the wrong moment and caused a pandemonium, not because of fear or anything so pedestrian.

That must have been it.

“Now I want your side of the story,” Liz said, leaning against the railing and facing the brothers. “What have you been up to? Tell me everything.”

After a brief exchange of looks and a sigh from the younger brother, Sam and Dean did so. They talked of the initial meeting, in which Liz listened anxiously even though she knew Kid still was in one piece, of the body snatcher that ended up with a 15-year-old in Sam’s body, in which Liz laughed, and when a rogue and anonymous angel travelled back in time to kill Sam’s parents, in which Liz listened with an increasingly deepening frown.

And then there was Famine.

“Famine’s a horseman, as we said before. And, uh,” Sam hesitated. “I think I heard Kid refer to him as an ‘Old One’ or something like that.”

“Oh crap,” Liz said her fears confirmed. They had to deal with that carriage while also worrying about the Apocalypse.

“Kid did a help but a bit but he was mostly a pain in the ass,” Dean continued. “Kept going on about symmetry.”

Oh, bigger crap. Was Kid’s madness resurfacing again…?

“You act like this is new to you,” Sam said with a frown. “Didn’t Kid tell you all this?”

“He failed to mention a few details,” Liz said with a strained voice. One example being the multiple times he’d been injured, stabbed, shot and god knows what else.

Crap. Liz knew Kid was more likely to keep things secret that air his grievances to the world but still.

Then again she hadn’t seen him for a month.

She was going to kick his ass for not telling him. And then hug him and tell him he was a huge idiot. Again.

Their silence was cut short when a gunshot echoed throughout the neighbourhood, causing the two hunters and Demon Weapon to jump in place.

“What was that?” Liz asked.

“Gunshots,” Dean said, his mouth a thin line. “Can’t be good.”

Liz glanced between the two before she stood up and stretched her back. “I’ll go get Patty and Kid.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

On their way down Liz met up with Patty, her hair wrapped up in a soaking wet shower towel.

“The angel-faces are here!” the younger Thompson said when she saw Liz, Sam and Dean descend from the stairs.

Liz looked around the room. True enough, that one guy called Cas-something was in the room, along with the other angel woman, Anna if Liz remembered correctly. Worryingly enough, Kid was nowhere in sight.

“Cas, Anna?” Dean said, raising his eyebrows when he saw the angels. “When-?”

“Bobby contacted us,” Castiel said. “Said your situation sounded ‘fishy’.”

“Though there is a lack of fish shops in the area,” Anna continued.

“That’s not important,” Castiel said before turning to the hunters. “Dean, Sam, this whole town is in danger.”

Liz snorted. “Duh, demons keep attacking people, and your folks prefer to play commander rather than join in.”

“No, that’s all a fabrication,” Anna stated with a shake of her head.

Dean frowned. “But Leah’s a prophet, she can hear-”

“There is no prophet named Leah,” Castiel stated.

Liz raised an eyebrow. “And you know that, how?”

“All the names of the prophets are etched into our brains,” Anna explained.

“That sounds nasty!” Patty said with a giggle.

“Patty…” Liz said with a grimace. “I’m sure they’re being metaphorical-”

“No, it’s very literal,” Anna said.

Liz took a second to respond. “…Oh.”

She was so not going to complain when Death or Kid did weird stuff from now on.

“This town houses the Whore of Babylon,” Cas stated. Upon seeing everyone else’s confused looks, the angel cleared his throat and continued explaining, “It’s the only explanation about why a false prophet showed up in a small insignificant town such as this. She rises when Lucifer walks the earth.”

“And she shall come, bearing false prophecy,” Anna continued, quitting the Bible. “This creature can adopt a human’s form and read minds. The Book of Revelation calls her ‘the Whore of Babylon’.”

Liz narrowed her eyes. “The soul protect Kid talked about…”

“If there was a human named Leah she was probably killed months ago,” Sam muttered, his lips becoming a thin line.

“But why do demons keep showing up to attack her?” Patty asked. “One of those rotten bastards tried to get my sis!”

“They’re under her control. Their attacks instil fears into the hearts of the people here, causing them to turn to her for support. “Castiel explained.

Patty’s expression darkened. “Damned bitch-“

“I knew it!” Liz triumphantly said, earning her disapproving looks by the hunters and confused ones by the angels. “What? I told you she was bad news.”

“What’s her endgame?” Dean asked.

“innocent blood spilled in God’s name.”

“The gunshots came from Paul’s bar,” Sam said. “You think he was…?”

“Her goal is to condemn as many souls to hell as possible. And it’s…just beginning. She’s well on her way to dragging this whole town into the pit.”

Sam’s jaw clenched. “How do we get her?”

“The Whore can only be killed by a servant of God,” Anna offered.

“A servant?” Dean asked.

“Not you nor me, not Anna, definitely not Kid, Sam’s an abomination, and I doubt the Thompsons consider God their Lord,” Castiel said in one breath, earning him a nod from Anna and mildly-offended look from Sam.

“Can’t we summon an angel then?” Liz offered. “Cause them to duke it out?”

Castiel frowned. “That’s dangerous.”

“And there’s a possibility Castiel and I get caught in the crossfire.” Anna’s gave the group a pained smile. “We’re not exactly upstanding denizens of Heaven anymore.”

“What if you summon one and then get the hell out?”

“Then they’ll come after me or Dean,” Sam said.

“Assuming they’ll be willing to fight the Whore in the first place,” Dean said and rubbed his forehead. “All part of the Scripture, right?”

Anna pursed her lips in disagreement, which went disregarded.

“Can’t we get her some other way?”

“Shouldn’t we simply ask the Grim Reaper?” Anna suggested, folding her hands. “If anyone else can fight her off, it’s them.”

Dean gave her a look. “I thought you said the Whore can only get killed by a servant of God.”

“I believe an exception can be made when referring to Death.”

“…Good point,” Dean admitted and turned to the sisters. “Where’s Kid?”

Liz looked at Patty. The younger sister shrugged. Liz frowned by didn’t speak.

“Ok, so putting aside our MIA Reaper,” Dean said and turned to Sam. “Padre. He can kill the Whore. If a priest can’t do it, who can?”

Sam gave his brother a disbelieving look. “Dean, she’s disguised as his daughter.”

“So we’ll give him a pep talk.”

“I’ll get him,” Castiel offered and was gone in the blink of an eye.

“We need to go too,” Liz said, got hold of Patty’s hand and turned to the doorway. “Priest or no priest, we have to find Kid.”

The sisters were stopped by Anna who stood at the exit. “It’s not safe.”

“No shit. Now get out of my way.”

Anna was about to protest when Castiel appeared, this time with a passenger. The priest let out a yelp which was cut short when he unceremoniously tripped and fell.

“What on Heaven-?!”

“Cast wasn’t lying about the angel thing,” Dean said to the wide-eyed priest with an amused grin. “Oh and she,” Dean pointed at Anna, “is an angel too. Not as friendly but she ain’t gonna smite you.”

“Have you informed him about the Whore?” Anna asked, ignoring Dean’s remarks.

“Yes, but he refuses to believe me,” Castiel answered while Gideon looked between the two as if they belonged to a madhouse.

“Believe?” Gideon exclaimed with a scandalised expression. “You called my daughter a whore!”

“The Whore of Babylon. There’s a difference-“

“Have you seen Kid?” Liz asked, cutting both off.

Gideon briefly paused and frowned. “The boy? I think I saw him snooping around…”

“Where?”

“What does this- let’s get back to what you said about my daughter-!”

The lights in the room flickered and briefly died as did all conversations. A sudden wind blew a stack of papers apart. There was a faint but persistent high-pitched noise in the background.

Anna stood with her hands folded, two enormous shadows of extended wings having appeared on the wall behind her.

Sam scowled and Dean instinctively reached for his inner pocket where an array of weapons was stashed. Patty’s mouth became a perfect ‘o’ in awe while Liz tapped her foot impatiently. Gideon muttered a ‘Hail Mary’ under his breath.

“Anna,” Castiel warned.

“What? You said he did not believe you.”

Gideon looked again at the two angels with newfound realisation. “Oh dear,” was all he managed to say.

Liz scoffed. “We don’t have time for this.” She marched towards Gideon and threw him an impatient glare. “Kid. Where is he?”

The man hesitated in answering again, giving them a dazed look. Eventually, he went a bit pale when Liz repeated her request, which didn’t fill the older Thompson with confidence.

“Oh dear,” the priest repeated.

Liz’s scowl deepened. “What?”

“Jane came to Leah with some concerns about you two,” he gestured to the sisters, “and the boy.”

Gideon hesitated and Liz’s knuckles went white from how tight they were clasped.

“I think he’s in danger.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

In the church’s basement, people were milling to and from in a hurry. Among this sea of people was Kid. Thanks to his small frame, most people towered over him and paid him little heed, which was exactly as Kid wanted it to be. It’d be best if he remained unseen and undetected among the crowds.

Something didn’t sit tight with the Grim Reaper ever since they arrived in this town. It wasn’t like other times, when Kid had detected his father’s presence, or when the dead had been risen. It wasn’t even a  general vibe given off by the area. Kid’s entire source of unease came from one person.

Leah. Specifically, her soul.

Kid was repeating himself, but her soul was strange. Sure, it _looked_ human, had the same blue glow as everyone else’s but something was off about it. It was in fact too human -too blue, too stationary, too typical of a human’s soul. The same way no one could ever be a ‘typical’ human (or even a typical man or woman or other equally arbitrary categories), no soul was truly a textbook description of one. Each human soul had its own quirks and individualities, whether that was size, hue or the way it pulsated with emotions. Leah’s soul had no unique characteristics.

Liz appeared to agree with Kid’s suspicions, always muttering how the so-called prophet was strange ever since they arrived. Though she could not use Soul Perception or any other supernatural senses, she had her gut, which over the years Kid had grown to trust. And since Kid felt unease as well…

It was a shame he also couldn’t afford to bring Liz and Patty with him. Even if they remained in their Weapon forms, it was possible that whatever was stalking this town was after Kid. And if it was of the same demonic nature as the one in the old abandoned house…

Kid shook his head. He had to focus.

Leah had gone out of sight, into another small room, probably a private one. Kid casually leaned against a wall -it wouldn’t do for him to stare dazedly while standing in the middle of a room- and activated his Soul Perception, keeping his physical gaze on the floor.

Then, he saw it.

It was brief. Barely a flicker of a second. He couldn’t even see Leah as she had retreated to her own quarters for a minute or so. But he could see her soul. Leah’s soul had flickered, the blue shell of her soul had disappeared and what had been behind it had been of a deep red colour, unlike Aura’s or a Kishin egg’s soul. It was a uniform dark red, like congealed blood with just a hint of pink in it. Leah -if that creature was even called Leah- was no prophet. She -he? It? They? - had never been a human to begin with.

Kid stepped back, holding back a curse. He had to get out of here. He had to alert the Winchesters and make sure Liz and Patty were safe…

From the corner of his eye Kid spied Leah exiting her corner. Their eyes met. Leah gave him a cold smile. “Everyone.”

As if hypnotized, the crowd moved towards Leah like a single entity. Kid was pushed around until he ended up in an unknown position between the throngs of people. As more people gathered around him, their bodies pressed against his, Kid suppressed another curse. He would have to push his way out.

In the centre of it all, Leah watched the proceedings with a ghost of a smile on her lips. “I have an important announcement.”

She raised a hand and pointed at Kid, who was currently trying to lodge himself between a bulky couple.

“A Grim Reaper is in our midst.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on Kid. People backed away from him. Murmurs filled the room.

Kid scanned the room in confusion. Initially, a part of Kid was a bit confused in the manner Leah had said the words ‘Grim Reaper’; it was as if it was a bad thing to be.

Then Kid recalled he was no longer in Death city, but in a religious small town in the States.

Still, Kid shouldn’t have much cause for alarm. With the exception of hunters who hated everything supernatural, as well as certain other members of the supernatural world, the human’s perception of the Grim Reaper in these modern times tended to be neutral to the point of sympathetic. Kid even recalled a couple of comic book stories which he read as a Kid that featured Death as a character. Kid had enjoyed most of them, with one confusing exception being the one where one of the villains of the story was in love and wanted to marry Death which ended up in Kid asking his father some rather embarrassing questions).

Then again, these people knew of the Apocalypse. They knew the world only in terms of demons and angels, good and evil. From Kid’s limited knowledge of the Bible, these humans probably thought Kid’s father -and by extension Kid himself- were positively giddy at the prospect of the world ending.

Kid straightened his back and composed himself. Now that his true nature had been revealed, he had to show these people he was not a threat and fully explain the situation to him. They probably would have to take some time to wrap their head around. Some may even be fearful. Worst case scenario Kid expected bad language and maybe even a thrown shoe. Still, if Kid treaded carefully enough, they could have a civilised conversation-

Leah pointed her hand at Kid accusingly. “Get him.”

Everyone sprang into action. In an instant, the people that had surrounded Kid lunged at him. The Grim Reaper was taken aback, not expecting them to be so hostile already Still, if he did not appear to be aggressive maybe they’d see reason…

Kid allowed himself to be bodily-dragged to a corner of the building. All the while, all sorts of guns, knives and anything that could pass as a weapon were pointed at him.

Kid took a sharp breath. He could do this. It couldn’t be any harder than the time he had to convince the Witches Council to work together.

“His purpose is to drag as many innocent souls into the Pit, serving his dark master,” Leah continued, her voice booming and compelling over the cacophony.

Ok, Kid could not be civil at _that_ accusation. “What no, you’re lying-!”

“The angels have told me-“

“There were angels! Every time she made a prediction I couldn’t sense any-”

“As if they’ll reveal their presence to you-”

“They don’t have much of a choice! An angelic soul is a beacon of energy so they’re very noticeable. Yet I couldn’t sense even a hint of an angelic soul wavelength when you made your predictions,” Kid repeated. more desperate by the moment. Could the people not follow simple logic?

“It’s lying,” a man shouted from the crowd, “no one can see souls-”

“But back at the house, he told us the position of all the demons,” Rob muttered in thought.

“That’s because it’s in league with them-” Jane, Rob’s wife said. “It didn’t stop Dylan from…” she cut herself off in grief while her husband winced.

“If I may,” Kid spoke up and the people around him went silent, watching the Grim Reaper’s every move in various degrees of horror, anticipation and barely-hidden hostility. “Yes, I can see souls. As Mr Rob helpfully pointed out, that was how I was able to pinpoint the location of the demons during the assault I participated in.” Kid pointed to Leah. ‘And I’ve seen the supposed Miss Leah’s soul, in a moment when she let go of her disguise.” He gave Leah a cold glare. A few people backed away from him. The hands holding Kid in lace became lax. “You’re not anything close to a human, though your Soul Protect had me fooled for a while. What are you?”

Some of the people turned to the prophet, confused. “Leah?”

To her credit, the fake Leah’s face had barely changed during Kid’s accusations. If anything, she appeared to have composed herself and was looking down at Kid with an unreadable expression. “Lies. It’s trying to trick you into freeing him.”

Kid clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was getting him nowhere. “I don’t need to lie to be freed,” he said, acutely aware at how much the people’s hold on him had loosened. “Let me demonstrate.”

With one swift motion Kid pushed himself forwards and broke free. The people holding him yelled in surprise, and one persevering individual that managed to keep his grip on Kid soon ended up being bodily thrown against the room. Around Kid, the people yelled in surprise and some of them stepped back creating an opening, a straight line that led to the false prophet. Before anyone could mount an attack, Kid dashed to where Leah was, his Wavelength crackling under his skin-

A twisting of the face, a bright red soul shedding its blue guise and a flicker of a hand; Kid was thrown at the closest wall like a ragdoll, breaking it into pieces.

“The angels protected me,” Leah immediately said before anyone could ask what had just happened, her face settling into a frown. “Prepare the circle as I told you before!”

At the sound of her voice, most of the people gathered went to work, while still fearfully glancing at the still-collapsing walls. Brushes were taken, spears of woods sharpened and jugs containing an unknown liquid exchanged.

Smiling at the commotion, Leah faced the wall took a step forward.

“Leah, it’s dangerous-!” Jane yelled in concern.

“The angels will protect me,” Leah quickly answered, giving Jane a small reassuring smile. “You do as I told you before. The Lord will smile down on us for our service.”

Ignoring any further protests, Leah approached the collapsed wall. The majority of the dust had settled and a small shape moved among the rubble.

Leah flicked her hand down and the small body fell face-first into the gravel, as if a car had just been deposited on its back.

Smirking at the result, Leah looked down on the writhing Grim Reaper. “ _This is pointless,_ _”_ she said in Enochian. _“They will only listen to me, little Death_.”

_“They_ _’ll see through your tricks_ ,” Kid grunted, inadvertently switching to the language Leah spoke.

_“Even if they realise I_ _’m not human, they will still choose me over a Grim Reaper,_ _”_ Leah said with a smirk. _“Your kind seems to have an image problem._ _”_

Kid narrowed his eyes but didn’t protest. He had managed to lift his back with his elbows and most of his concentration was taken up by this seemingly Herculean task. “ _How did you find out_ _…?_ _”_

“ _The two little humans with you and the brothers_ _… their minds are like open books full of information._ ” Leah’s lips twisted into a mocking smirk. “ _The older brother_ _’s and sister_ _’s minds especially were so concerned_ _…_ ”

During their conversation, Kid was able to get on his feet, his back hunched because of Leah’s powers and his erratic Wavelength bathing him in dark shadows. _“Do you really think you can win against a Grim Reaper?_ _”_

For a moment, Leah hesitated. _“I don_ _’t need to,_ _”_ she answered and looked back at the humans. _“I just have to keep you down long enough and then_ _…”_ Leah looked down at Kid and her eyes narrowed with glee. “ _Lucifer will reward me greatly once I add another Grim Reaper to his army. Get used to having a chain around your neck too, little Death. That is, if you survive what_ _’s next._ ”

“Leah?” Jane called out in concern. Behind her, the people had stopped their work and most were staring at them. Strange symbols littered the floor.

In an instant, Leah’s cruel expression was gone. “I was reciting an exorcism the angels told me.” She looked fearfully to Kid. “Unfortunately, it seems to have grown strong among our presence… the recent deaths must have boosted its power.”

“That’s now how it works, you morons!” Kid yelled, causing a few people to step back in surprise. Having almost stood up to his full height the Grim Reaper took a step towards the false prophet. “And how long do you think you can keep me down?”

“Leah, all these things you’ve said…You’ve never guided us wrong,” Rob hesitantly began, looking between the two. “But what if this time…?”

For a moment, the false prophet’s face darkened, but a rueful smile was plastered it moments after. “You have doubts. That is unfortunate but natural. Let me ease them.” She turned to Rob. “Give me your gun,” Leah kindly said to Rob, who after a few moments of hesitation gave her his shotgun.

Rob gulped when he saw the girl inspect his gun. “What are you trying to-”

Leah raised the shotgun and shot Kid point-blank in his chest.

The Grim Reaper stumbled backwards with a pained yell, dark red blood dripping onto the floor as black shadows concentrated on his torso, instantly beginning to heal the wound. People gasped at the manifested dark skulls.

“See?” Leah said, ignoring Kid’s glare. “He’s not human.” Her words hang in the air like a death sentence.

As if they were in a trance, the people circled around the young Grim Reaper, their guns and other weapons raised towards him. Kid, who was still gingerly clutching his healing wound, looked up at them confused.

“I’m not an enemy,” Kid said through gritted teeth.

“You’re a goddamn Reaper,” a nameless person among the group said.

The Grim Reaper clenched his fists. “I don’t see how this marks me as your opponent-!”

“Bring Dylan back!” Jane stepped forward, ignoring her husband's shout of concern, lifted Kid from the scruff of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. “Bring back my son, you son of a -”

“I can’t do that,” Kid grunted. Despite appearances, it was Leah’s power that was holding him in place, pushing hard against his torso and exaggerating the pain from his wound that clouded his mind.

Jane’s tight hold on Kid only exaggerate the situation, the Grim Reaper frowning at the sheer anger that poured out of her soul. “Can’t or won’t?”

“Both. The dead are not meant to be raised-”

“That’s bullshit, this is the damn apocalypse-!”

“Miss Jane,” Kid’s tone could shave ice. “This is not the first time the world has ended and certainly not the last. So no, there will be no oversights.”

Jane looked as if she was about to do something very unwise that involved her fists, until Leah put a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder who was currently holding the on the Grim Reaper’s collar in a death-grip. The distressed parent let Kid go, and Leah focused her power to push Kid down as well. The Grim Reaper scowled at the impact but was already getting up.

“How do we kill it?”

Jane’s question made Kid freeze in his tracks. “What-?”

“It’ll be difficult,” Leah said without pause, “if we take one step wrong he would kill us all, without mercy, like his kind does,”

Kid doubled his efforts of getting up because the situation had long gone out-of-hand. “Are you idiots actually considering this?!”

“It can’t die from blood loss but physical damage will make the process easier,” Leah continued, ignoring the Grim Reaper’s protests. She clenched her hand and Kid cursed as even more force was applied to him.

“No objection,” Rob remarked as he readied his shotgun. Kid barely had the strength to dodge the man’s shot, which grazed Kid’s side. “Sit still damn you-”

Meanwhile, Leah was still rattling orders to the people gathered around her who came and went at her beck and call. “We need pomegranates, grounded acorns and a spear made from an oak tree.”

Kid looked wide-eyed as the people followed the false command. He had some idea of what pomegranates did to him -they were minor annoyances at best- but he had no idea about the rest, and that worried him. “You’re being deceived-ugh!”

While Kid was distracted, Rob had reloaded his shotgun and emptied it at Kid’s torso, reopening partially healed wounds and creating new ones. Some other people were throwing ground acorns and pomegranate juice at him, which caused his wounds to burn while his movements became sluggish.

“Shut up you vile thing!” Rob cried in anguish. His eyes lingered at Kid’s bloody torso and torn shirt but he bit down his tongue and focused on reloading his gun. Once the man was finished, he pointed his shotgun at Kid again eyes wide in case of an attack, and their eyes met. Rob gulped and pressed his finger against the trigger but didn’t fire.

“You make one move…” the man warned, “and your brains will be decorating the walls.”

“Form a triangle around it,” Leah instructed and a few people carefully approached Kid holding brushes with red paint on them. “Be careful not to break the shape of it,” she looked at the grimacing Grim Reaper, “will become more powerful.”

A young woman ran towards Leah. She hesitated when she saw the bloody sight but spoke nonetheless. “I got a branch from the oak tree outside…”

“Good. Give it to…”  Leah’s gaze wondered until it landed on a very specific person. “Rob, would you like to do the honours?”

Rob looked back to Leah and the branch he was holding with a lost look. “What am I supposed to…”

“You know,” Leah said with a reassuring smile as she handed Rob the spear. When the man hesitated, Leah leaned towards his ear and whispered, “this is for Dylan.”

With trembling hands, Rob slowly walked up to Kid.

The Grim Reaper, still recovering from the man’s shotgun and Leah’s continued crushing force, couldn’t help but look up at Rob, feeling helpless. The acorn powder and pomegranate juice made his vision swim and his thoughts clouded. “Stop…”

Rob held the spear high.

“Stop,” Kid repeated, his voice hoarse.

Rob’s grasp on the spear tightened

“Please, just stop!”

The oak spear plunged right into Kid’s chest.

For a moment, the world became black and mute. When Kid regained his senses, the world burned.

Kid couldn’t help but let out a cry of pain. This wasn’t like other times Kid had been impaled. The spear had torn through the side of his heart and left lung but that wasn’t even as grievous as some of the other wounds Kid had received.

This _burned._ Not a conventional burning, the one caused by something so pedestrian as fire. This searing pain expanded as if Kid’s arteries and veins had caught fire, to the point where Kid’s soul _felt it_ and protested at the material itself. He wanted to move, grab the spear and rip it off him, but his body grew heavy, unresponsive. Blood rose to his throat as Kid coughed and threw up blood. The cough aggravated the pain and Kid stopped breathing altogether, preferring a temporary burning at his lungs that the searing pain he felt every time his chest moved.

In his haze, Kid gathered his thoughts enough to will his heart to stop. It wouldn’t do any good beating, causing more blood to flow out of his wounds and, even with the tiny and otherwise imperceptible effect, cause his flesh to move against the spear.

 “This really hurts…”

Above him stood Rob, his face pale. The man’s hands trembled when Kid spoke, causing the Grim Reaper to hiss as the spear to move and send more pain coursing through Kid’s system.

Leah’s hand gently wrapped around Rob’s. “Pull it out.”

With a sickening crunch, the wooden stake came off Kid’s chest, causing even more blood to pour out. Kid’s senses slowly became sharper and he realised he had collapsed to one side, painfully crushing his right hand. Coughing out blood, he shifted his body to free his hand and opened his eyes blearily, wincing at the cacophony of voices around him.

“It moved, it’s still alive!”

“It’s a monster!”

Another piercing scream. “Oh God, it’s looking at me!”

“Leah how do we kill the bastard?!”

Though blurred senses Kid saw a blonde shape, and heard a smooth voice he had grown to despise. “Rob, you have to do it again.”

“I can’t, I can’t,” Rob repeated like a mantra, his voice breaking. “He’s a boy and there’s so much blood and he’s Dylan’s age-”

“I’ll do it,” came Jane’s voice, as Kid’s senses returned to their former sharpness. “For our son.”

As the spear was raised again, Kid threw a pleading look at the woman. They had helped each other before, hadn’t they?

“Don’t you dare,” Jane hissed between sobs, “don’t you dare look at me the same way my son did!” She raised the spear with trembling hands. “I knew you were no good, you monster. Go back to the hell you came from-!”

“Stop!” came two familiar voices. Jane paused and turned around. As her frame moved, Kid made out the two intruders, Dean and Sam, whose eyes widened at the bloody sight. They were accompanied by a third person, one who Kid recognised at Leah’s father, who was holding up another wooden stake.

“What the hell-?” Dean began.

“The boy you got with you, it tricked you,” Rob said. “It’s not human, son.”

“We know-” Sam began.

“What?! And you let him come here?!” Rob yelled. “Boy, do you have any idea what trouble you might get us in? This thing’s a Grim Reaper-!”

“We know and believe it or not, he’s on our side!” Dean cut him off.

“On your side?” the man said in exasperation. “He is a Reaper! His only side is death!”

Their conversations were cut short when a pink bullet hit Rob in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain, fall to knees and drop his shotgun. The room went silent, the gunshot deafening.

Dean and Sam’s eyes travelled to the source of the bullet, a scowling blonde teen with a shiny M9 on her extended hand.

“Back. Off.” Liz’s tone was quiet but reverberated throughout the room.

Rob went to grab his shotgun but Liz was faster, using Patty to shoot at the man’s arm again and causing him to drop the shotgun. The gunshot was as deafening as before. “What do you think you’re-!”

“Stubborn bastard, ain’t you? Be grateful I didn’t aim at other parts of you,” Liz growled, pointing her sister’s weapon form at the crowd and slowly approaching the centre of the room.

Jane raised her spear. “If you take another step-!”

“Bitch, I swear I will blow everyone’s brains out unless you back off right the fuck now.” To emphasize her point aimed the gun at Jane, with her finger slightly pulling on the trigger.

“This goes for every other bastard in here too!” Patty’s voice came from her Weapon form which caused the room to erupt in yells and shouts.

“Did the gun just-?!”

“What are you?!”

“None of your goddamn business!” Liz yelled among the cacophony silencing the group. “Now, everyone _back the fuck off_.” AS an afterthought, Liz spared the Winchesters and priest a glance. “And let those three go.”

Nobody moved. Liz scowl deepened, and her Boston accent surfaced, her tone cold and merciless. “Now.”

Slowly, the people moved to the edges of the room. Those that held the Winchesters slowly let go and the brothers sprang up, looking at the crowd as if it were a tiger ready to pounce. Pedro took some time to get his bearings and clutched to his wooden stake for dear life.

“Alright, everyone follow our instructions and I won’t bust a cap on your ass,” Liz yelled. “First, drop everything you’re holding!”

Most of them did as told. The one exception as Jane, who had dropped her spear only to replace it with her husband’s shotgun.

Liz took note of that. Her expression darkened as she took aim at the woman and her finger squeezed the trigger. “If you think you’re intimidating, you got another thing coming.”

“And who are you?”

“I’m the one who’s gonna pop your head off like a balloon if you don’t do as I say.”

“You’re with him,” Jane icily said.

“No shit, you just figured that out,” Liz said with grim amusement. She glanced at Kid. “Oi, you alright?”

“I’ll live,” Kid tried to get up to prove his point, but only made it halfway up before his knees buckled and he had to use the wall for support. Liz looked at Kid and momentarily lost focus, her grip on patty slightly slackening.

With a yell, Jane lunged at Liz with the oaken spear. “Harlots!”

The spear connected with thin air, as Liz’s form was enveloped into a pink light. In an instant, Jane found herself held at gunpoint by the younger sister, the barrel of the gun pressing hard against her forehead.

Patty’s expression was deadly calm, her eyes cold and devoid of emotion. “Are you so eager to meet your boy, you spineless cunt?”

“Patty.” At Kid’s word, Patty twisted her head to get Kid into her line of sight. Kid shook his head, though the gesture caused him to grimace in pain. He had managed to sit up and gave the younger sister a grim look. “Don’t.”

Patty’s hand stayed pressed on the trigger. “No one hurts my folks.”

Kid shook his head again.

For a moment, Patty looked as if she was about to completely disregard Kid’s words and press the trigger anyway. However, slowly, her hand left the trigger and she pulled the gun down.

Which she then used as a tonfa and smashed it against Jane’s face, causing the woman to fall sideways, blood pouring freely out of her broken nose. Rob rushed to her side but patty hit him too, causing o drop like a dead weight. With slow deliberate steps, Patty walked towards the woman who was still splayed on the floor, clutching her broken nose in pain.

Patty spit on Jane, causing the older woman to wince. She tried to wiggle away but Patty placed her foot on her throat, immobilising her. “You’re fucking lucky Kid still thinks you should live.” 

“Hey Mafioso,” Dean called out. “Enough of this, we got a Whore to-”

Dean never got to say exactly what he was about to do, as he, Sam and the Thompsons were also flung onto the wall where Kid was, forming a bloody and confused pile of people.

“Liz, Patty-!” a crushed Kid yelled, and let out a breath of relief once he released Patty had transformed into her Weapons as well to brace for impact. Said relief was short lived when Dean, in an attempt to get up, accidentally toppled on top of Kid. “Ow, that’s my spleen you’re stepping on-”

“Hey Sam, get your butt off my nozzle-”

“Ew Dean, your shoe is dirty, I think you’ve stepped on poop or something!”

The chaotic scene was not helped when two exhausted figures appeared, setting off a small stream of air that sent papers and dust flying all over the room.

“We need to get out of here,” Castiel immediately said, pausing when he regarded the bloody scene before him. Behind him, Anna did the same, the angel nervously glancing around before freezing in her tracks.

“I’ve called the Heavens,” an out-of-breath Anna said, “angels will be here at any moment-”

“Who are you?” Rob moaned, rubbing his hurt skull.

“An angel of the Lord,” Anna and Castiel replied simultaneously. For added effect, Anna revealed her wings, Castiel doing the same with an exasperated sigh.

A hysteric laugh came from Jane who was still lying on the floor. “Oh my.” The woman’s bloody face broke into a grateful smile. “Leah, the angels-”

Jane didn’t get to finish her sentence as Anna and Castiel were both thrown off the wall. On the other side of the room, Leah appeared, hair dishevelled and her face twisted into an ugly grimace. Black smoke emerged from under her and pooled around her feet.

_“Get them!_ _”_ the Whore of Babylon screeched in Enochian and the smoke split into several different streams, each one forcing itself within random people on the makeshift battlefield.

Dean shot at demons left and right while Sam slashed at them with Ruby’s knife.

Jane, who had managed to sit up, cowered when one of the possessed people ran in her direction with a kitchen knife-

And promptly collapsed when two bullets him, one on the skull and the other on the heart.

Jane looked back at the source of the gunshot to see Kid clutching two guns, both aimed to where the demon was. The Grim Reaper was still sitting down and using the wall as support, his face pale but concentrated.

Kid didn’t even spare a glance at the woman, using his left gun to shoot at another demon while the right-hand gun transformed into Liz who bent down and gingerly picked Kid up.

“You’re welcome, you ungrateful bitch,” Liz said before Jane could respond.

“Why didn’t you kill me before?” Of the many questions Jane wanted to ask, this was the only one she could actually form.

“It wasn’t out of sympathy you know,” Liz growled with a scowl. Once she had gotten Kid on his two feet, the Grim Reaper still using the wall as support, she transformed back into her Weapon form.

“As a Grim Reaper,” Kid began, not bothering to look at Jane but instead focusing on the black tendrils and the ones they had claimed, “I ensure that the souls of those that have died pass on.” He gave a brief glance at Jane’s direction. “Unless corrupted, I do not kill.”

A ray of smoke touched Liz’s weapon form but recoiled as a symbol appeared on Liz’s handle. The older Thompson let out a triumphant laugh when Kid shot at the stream using Patty, making it disappear into thin air.

“How-?” Kid began.

“Anti-possession charm,” Liz explained. “Patty and I didn’t have time so we drew it with a sharpie on the way here.”

On the other corner of the room, Leah gave off an enraged shout as she lunged at Dean her nails aiming for his throat. A shot by Kid and Liz threw her astray and she collided with a hapless human, disorienting both.

“Padre get the whore!” Dean yelled.

With a battle cry that was anything but fierce, Gideon, holding the wooden spear tight, ran towards Leah. The false proper let out a deranged laugh and swiped her hands, sending the priest crashing at a nearby ornament, groaning in pain.

“It’s too late!” Anna yelled as a whining noise made itself apparent, shaking the building to its foundations.

“They’re coming!” Castiel yelled and grabbed hold of the Winchesters while Anna dashed to where the Thompson sisters were, currently trying to bring Kid up.

There was a bright white light but they were gone long before any of the other angels appeared.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Kid was lying on a couch, Liz and Patty next to him. The older Thompson had moved an armchair close to him, having stood by his side for the last few hours. She was holding Kid hand and maintained the connection even when sleeping. Patty had instead opted for a pillow and a sheet directly under Kid’s sofa like a guard dog, a pack of crayons and get well doodles clutched close to her frame.

Time passed. Eventually, Liz grew hungry and hobbled towards the kitchen with a groggy Patty by her side, cursing loudly at her inability to walk properly. Field clear, Dean and Sam carefully approached the lying Grim Reaper.

“You alright?” Sam asked out of courtesy.

“Leave me alone.” The Grim Reaper tried to shift his body away from the hunters but winched and fell back in the makeshift bed, grimacing. He looked down at his waist in annoyance. “Stupid thing still hurts…”

Sam looked puzzled, “I thought you healed fast?”

“Apparently, all that stuff they did to me wasn’t just for show,” Kid bitterly said, gingerly placing his hand on his side.

Dean reached into his jacket and withdrew a small orange-hued cylindrical container. “Here. I… I found some painkillers.”

Kid gingerly took the bottle. He quickly inspected the label before popping the lid and downing the whole thing down.

Sam and Dean looked worriedly at each other before grabbing the bottle of pills away from Kid. “Whoa, that many are gonna do more harm than good-”

“I need it-”

“Uh,” Dean hesitantly said, “Kid listen up, no matter how much it hurts-”

“I’m not trying to commit suicide, you moron. My body has anti-toxins, if I want the painkillers to work I have to take large amounts. Now give me the bottle.”

They stayed silent for a few seconds. At the tiny space of their room designated as a kitchen, there was the sound of pans hitting the floor accompanied by Liz’s indiscriminate cursing.

“…Is it working?” Sam hesitantly asked.

“Barely,” Kid said and shifted to a more comfortable position. He placed his palm on his forehead. “And I’m starting to feel lightheaded.”

“Wait,” Dean spoke up, “like, tipsy?”

Kid shrugged in his stupor. “Must be a lot of by-product from my body’s toxins and the medicine. It makes me drowsy.”

“So you’re drunk?”

“I haven’t consumed alcohol.”

“High then?”

“…Tired.” The boy lay on the couch, using the armrest as a pillow.

Dean opened his mouth, probably to make out another wisecrack, but closed when Sam nudged him and gave him a look. The sounds of cussing kept coming from the kitchen.

“People can be very stupid,” kid said after a short period of silence.

Dean snorted. “You’re telling me.” He turned to Kid to crack a joke but stopped when he saw the bloody bandaged, with parts of them still leaking blood all over the sofa. “You’re bleeding. A lot.”

Kid grunted. “Yeah, I do that. Doctor Stein said it had something to do with increased blood production and plasma acids and decontamination…”

Sam frowned. “You have a family doctor?”

“He’s more of a scientist, acting as the school’s doctor.”

Dean leaned in. “What school?”

“He likes dissecting stuff. I think he may have tried to convince me to have my appendix removed at one point-of course father was mad at him when he found out…”

“Have you ever gotten hurt that bad before?” Dean asked.

“A few times. I’ve been worse, physically. But…”

“You hadn’t been jumped by religious whack jobs.”

Kid contemplated Sam’s remark. “I’ve never been attacked for being a Grim Reaper before. I mean, when someone knows I’m here to take their soul they may attack me out of self-preservation, which is stupid, or gluttony because of my soul’s power, which is even stupider,” the Grim Reaper said with a shrug. “But normal humans hadn’t attacked me like that. Quite the opposite. Father goes along with people in the city and I do relatively well... I’m not very social.”

Sam gave him a curious look that bordered on empathetic. “You’re… you’re not used to dealing with humans outside of your home, are you?”

Kid shook his head. “Didn’t really need to.” He looked at the kitchen. “And the times I did, they weren’t a typical human. I spent a lot of time home and when I travel outside it’s almost always a mission. When I was younger, Father didn’t want me wandering outside the city as well.”

“Sounds sheltered,” Dean murmured, low enough that Sam barely heard him.

“Why… didn’t your dad want you leaving the city?” Sam said slowly. It was the first time Kid opened to them like that.

“He was always very worried for me. He’s always been overprotective of me.”

“One would think the Grim Reaper wouldn’t have to worry about his kid dying,” Dean said with a grim grin.

Kid groggily shook his head. “It’s not like that. There… there are monsters out there that feed on souls. Creatures that lost what made them living beings and turned into parasites, eating souls to try and quench their never-ending hunger.”

“Your dad was worried one of them would eat you?” Sam asked.

A sigh. “Not so much now that I’m older and more experienced at fighting. When I was younger however, a strong one could. There was this one time…” Kid’s forearm slipped from his forehead and came to rest on his eyes. “I was at the edges of Death City, at a makeshift skateboard park.”

“Young rebel,” Dean muttered.

“Some children from the nearby high school set it up and hang out. Usually, when they left at late afternoon and would sneak in through the graveyard and practice.”

“Not a social butterfly I take it?” Sam asked.

“I found it hard to connect with people my age. When your ‘peers’ have just started grasping the concept of not being egotistical, there is not a lot of common ground to be found.” Sam could practically see the eyeroll from Kid’s dry tone. “Anyways, I was practising when I miscalculated one of my jumps and landed much, much further than I intended to. Outside the city basically.” The hand rose from Kid’s eyes and they stared blankly at nothing. “A creature rose up from the sand. I think it had sensed my soul and was waiting until I got out of my father’s safe zone…” His hand hovered above his belly as if remembering an old wound. “I was hurt badly. My belly was sliced open and I could see my innards.” Sam didn’t hide his grimace at Kid’s description. Dean’s face was blank. “I had to crawl back within my father’s soul. The creature still went after me, probably drunk with power…” A faint smile, a remembrance of better times. “Needless to say, the moment I stepped in and wished for help, Father showed up and killed the creature instantly.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed in accusation. “Why didn’t he show up before you were-?”

“Father couldn’t,” Kid cut him off.

Dean frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kid gave the brothers a long look. Eventually he sighed and looked away. “It’s… complicated. Long story short, Father cannot, or until a few weeks ago, couldn’t leave the borders of the city.”

“He was trapped?” Sam asked.

“I suppose, in a way. Father never seemed to mind, unless I wanted to explore outside, which unfortunately meant that I would be outside his supervision and thus, in danger.” A deep sigh. “I miss him.”

To their surprise, Sam let out a good-natured grin. “You’re lucky Kid. You got one of the good ones.”

Dean gave Sam a confused look before turning back to Kid. “You need to rest. Look, if you want more painkillers feel free to ask.”

“Actually another bottle would be good. I can already start to feel the effects starting to fade…”

“Sure thing, medical marvel.” Dean turned to his brother. “Time to get robbed by the pharmaceutical companies.”

“Sam, Dean,” Kid mumbled, attracting the brother’s attention. Kid pulled the blankets over him, eyes closed, face relaxed. “Thank you.”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“You’ve caused quite the trouble, young miss.”

The Whore held back a laugh at the remark, which was for the better since laughing would only make her condition worse.

This was the end of the line of her. Her body was torn, bleeding heavily from multiple wounds that were painful but not fatal. She had difficulty breathing and her body twitched every so often, revealing her abominable true form. She was trapped, and was about to be killed by these pompous glorified accountants.

Oh well, at least she had upheld her duty. This wasn’t the first town she had doomed to the pit. Her ledger was dripping red from all the blood of the righteous humans she had led astray. When her Lord would finally win over Michael, she would be rewarded greatly for her service. She was loyal, truly loyal, not fearful of Lucifer like so many of these pathetic demons -which were also glorified humans with a mean streak. She had a vested interest in the Devil’s success. Shame she couldn’t do anything more to help her cause.

The Whore coughed, her chest burning. She still had an angry mark on her collarbone, where that pathetic baby Reaper had tried to rip her soul out. Had it not been for the angels arriving maybe she would already be dead… immature or not, dealing with Grim Reapers was way above her paygrade. Still, that meant that the little Grim Reaper would still be a thorn in her Master’s plan to claim Samuel as his rightful vessel. Shame the little Reaper could not be dealt with. Unless…

A metaphorical lightbulb turn on in her head, and the Whore stood up straighter. She looked up to regard the angel in charge of her, some pompous jerk that called himself Zachariah.

“Another day, another useless minion to take care of,” the angel said with a sigh. “Oh well, what can I say?” The angel looked down on her as is he was a lost puppy and reached out with his hand, his palm cracking with angelic energy. “I’m a faithful employee-”

“Stop- I have information!” she yelled, the angel’s hand centimetres away from her face.

Zachariah stepped back, giving her a patronising smile. “Willing to betray your master?”

“This doesn’t concern him-” the Whore doubled over coughing blood.

“So, why would I care?”

“I want you to let me go,” the Whore continued, ignoring the angel’s remarks. “If you do, I’ll make it worth your while,”

“I’m intrigued,” Zachariah said in a tone that was anything but. “Information that doesn’t betray Lucifer but will make us let you go unscathed.”

The Whore laughed. “You’re so blind…” She gave the angel a sharp-toothed smile. “You angels can’t see what’s right in front of your nose.”

“Don’t keep me in the dark now,” Zachariah said in a mock surprised tone. “What is it?”

“Let me out of these binds.”

“Make it ‘worth my while’,” Zachariah said with a sardonic smirk.

“Oh it will,” the Whore said, leaning forwards. “So much so that you may even get back at Michael’s good graces, ugh-!” She doubled over, blood coming out of her mouth and nose.

Zachariah loomed above her, his form slightly glowing with angelic energy. “Tell me.”

“Only if you let me live,” she gasped, coughing out more blood.

Zachariah gave her a long look, which she reciprocated. Eventually the angel looked away and clicked his tongue.

Almost immediately, she felt her bindings go slack. It would only take a solid tug for her to get free and make her escape. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that when Zachariah was mere centimetres away, but hopefully her info would stun him enough to make her escape.

“The young boy that’s with the Winchesters…”

Zachariah raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so those two got another stray? Why should I care?”

The whore inwardly smiled. Even if she didn’t escape, she would still benefit from the situation. If the angels put her knowledge to use and gained an ally, it would be a much weaker version -she had seen his soul, it was weak, restrained by the lines, a mere fragment. It would be no match for the version their Lord commanded. In addition, her info would distract the angels, make them preoccupied, allowing her compatriots to win back lost ground.

“He’s a Grim Reaper.”

The Ritual was a resource-heavy process after all.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

“Hey.”

Kid looked up to see Liz hobbling towards him. “Hi Liz.” His eyes strayed to her cast leg. “Careful, your wounds-”

“They’ll be fine. They’re not that bad.” Liz looked over at Kid and held back a flinch. “Can’t say the same about you.”

Kid gave her a pained smile. “It’ll heal.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Liz slowly walked at Kid’s direction, hissing when she had to use her ankle to walk. Eventually she sat by Kid’s bed and lay next to him. “You’re a good guy you know that?”

Kid raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was a brat.”

Liz snorted. “Oi, I’m trying to have a heart-to-heart session here. Don’t be a smartass with me now.” She stretched on the bed, careful not to disturb Kid. “It’s not just me and Patty. Everyone at Death City thinks so too. Don’t let a town of crazies get you down.”

“How about you Liz?”

“Eh,” Liz drawled nonchalantly. “Hey, it’s not the first time people hated my guts. ‘sides I’ve been called way worse things than harlot. These guys were small fries.”

Kid couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sound like you have it down to an art.”

“I call it my ‘not-giving-a-fuck’ strategy. It’s very effective,” Liz joked.

“I bet,” Kid mused and winched when he tried to turn over to get more comfortable.

Liz narrowed her eyes at the gesture. “Are you gonna be alright?”

Kid hummed in agreement and let his head fall back on the pillows. “I just need to get some rest.”

Liz gave him a rueful smile. “Don’t we all…”

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Gideon was walking to nowhere in particular.

When he arrived in the city he headed for a church, a place of refuge. There, had seen Leah’s -no, that monster wasn’t her daughter, the real Leah had died months ago- body, with a gaping hole in her chest. Her wrists were scarred, perhaps an indication of a failed escape attempt. Gideon couldn’t bring himself to approach the corpse, instead leaving the church and going to Paul’s place to drown and forget himself with alcohol.

Strangely, the town was seemingly empty. There wasn’t a soul in sight, as if something had whisked the town’s inhabitants away. Houses were deserted, the church was gathering dust and the roads were empty. The only sign of movement was a small ray of light over a hill, on the outskirts of the city.

Drunk, disoriented and not-fully conscious, Gideon made his way to the hill, stumbling on nothing. The ray of light became brighter, to the point where he had to shield his eyes and stop his ascent to hide in a bush and rub the spots away.

“Faithful followers,” a voice boomed. It was masculine and soothing, and Gideon felt his worries ease away.

Disoriented he stumbled towards the source of the voice. And, when Gideon eventually saw its source, white and gleaming and _terrible_ , he let out a whimper and he hid behind a rock. His heart was pounding so hard it was painful, and he placed a hand to his mouth to prevent any further sounds.

“You have been deceived by the Devil.”

In front of the white shape -gleaming with a pure light yet Gideon now knew its true cruel nature- were throngs of people. His people, Gideon realised and his stomach painfully lurched. There was Jane and her husband, and everyone else from the parish. That was why the entire town was empty. Everyone was here.

But for what reason?

“Yet that does not mean your souls are forever damned. There is still a way to absolve your sins and to aid the Heavens in our fight against Evil.”

“Amen,” the people chanted. Gideon didn’t now if they were captivated by the gleaming aura or still retained their free-will.

With renewed bravery, Gideon peaked down at the people and angel -for what else could the white figure be? Upon closer inspection, the celestial figure lost some of its mystical nature. The angel appeared as a middle-aged balding man, looking like the sort who’d show up in your front-house’s door on a warm afternoon, trying to sell car insurance.

“All we need is your devotion,” the angel continued, his ethereal voice more than making up for his ordinary appearance. He -they?- had a triumphant smile on his -their?- lips. “And you sacrifice.”

The people held their hands together. Their expressions varied; some were relieved, other were grim and a scant few were joyful.

Their mouth opened and they chanted as one. “We offer up our lives, blood, souls to complete this tribute.”

Their bodies hit the floor like puppets with their strings cut. The soil bubbled as if it was liquid and the already dark sky grew pitch black.

The last thing Gideon saw was the moon, bloody, laughing, and the _red eye_ was everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh thank Cthulhu, this monstrosity of a chapter is finally done. Bet you didn’t think THIS would happen, huh? :P
> 
> Also, I’m aware of how more severe the word ‘cunt’ is in an American setting and used it precisely to show how pissed off Liz and Patty were in that situation.
> 
> Also, funny thing about the 10/40 window is that it includes Greece and I'm all like (≖.≖ )ﾌ ???? the whole country is so Christian Orthodox it’s considered the ‘national religion’, what are you even trying to accomplish (≖.≖ )ﾌ ?????
> 
> OUTTAKE (Sorry I couldn’t resist):
> 
> A spectre is haunting our town…” Leah began.
> 
> The crowds hang on to her words with baited breath.
> 
> “The spectre of communism.”
> 
> There was a pause.
> 
> “What?” the crowd spoke as one.
> 
> “All the powers of Heaven have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre-“
> 
> “What-?!”
> 
>  
> 
> \---
> 
>  
> 
> Please comment! I’m very interested in your opinions about Liz and Patty in the story. Do you feel they were integrated well? If yes or no why? Did they take up too much space in terms of story content? Too little?
> 
> Meanwhile stay tuned for the next chapter which will hopefully not take half a year to write! :’) If you want more Soul Eater goodness feel free to check out my other ongoing (and currently updated on-time) story, After Death!
> 
> Thanks again for your time!


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